PALLISA, UGANDA: Police in Pallisa District in Eastern Uganda are investigating circumstances under which a four-month-old baby died one hour after being circumcised at Pallisa General Hospital.
The incident happened on Saturday when the baby started bleeding immediately after circumcision and died moments later.
ASP Immaculate Alaso, the Bukedi North Regional Police Spokesperson who confirmed the report said the doctor who carried out the circumcision is on the run but efforts are underway to have him arrested for an explanation for the cause of the baby’s death.
Preliminary police investigations indicate that the baby’s parents Ms Betty Apolot and Mr Richard Opio handed their child to the doctor when he was normal and he was discharged at around 1pm after the procedure.
However, Ma Alaso explains that the parents told police how the baby developed a convulsion and was taken back to the theatre where he was put on oxygen. He died at around 6pm yesterday evening after heavy bleeding.
“On April 15, 2023, the mother of the deceased at around 10 am reached out to Pallisa General Hospital for safe male circumcision which was done between 11 am to midday. After he was discharged at around 1 pm the deceased got a convulsion and was taken back to the theatre where he was put on oxygen. His situation worsened as he bled until he passed on at around 6 pm on Saturday,” the police statement read on Sunday afternoon.
Following the child’s death, Alaso says police visited the scene and obtained statements from the parents of the deceased and other eyewitnesses.
“Police are on the ground to establish whether the suspect is a trained surgeon qualified to perform such a procedure,” Ms Alaso said.
By press time, the hospital’s medical superintendent was unavailable for a comment on the incident as his unknown contact were all unreachable when filing this story.
This is not the first time a baby dies in a botched circumcision procedure in a space of less than a month.
READ HERE: Traditional surgeon on the run after child dies hours after being circumcised
A similar incident happened on March 20, 2023, at Kiiko Fishing Village in Buwaga Parish, Bugaya Sub-county in Buvuma District when a one-week-old baby died moments after a similar unsuccessful circumcision procedure.
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