A week-old baby rescued from being eaten by stray dogs

By Mike Rwothomio

Wrapped up in a warm piece of clothing,  a week-old baby was discovered by some good Samaritans abandoned at 10:00 Pm over the weekend at Anyong cell, central ward Paidha Town Council in Zombo district.

Area leaders say the place always harbours stray dogs and pigs thank God the dangerous animals never landed on it.

Elderly women from Anyong cell projected that the baby was between 1 – 2 weeks old.

The  face of the baby was well opened to access oxygen according to Mildred Akello, the LC 1 chairperson of Anyong cell.

Akello said the baby whose mother remains unknown was immediately taken to Paidha Central police station. She cautioned married couples against acts of punishing young ones.

” It’s true that a baby was discovered in a bush  after former  club j_2. It was at around 10 pm on Saturday. The baby was placed with its face well opened to access oxygen easily. I think the owner never intended to suffocate it. The baby was taken to police immediately that night” Akello said.

Cases of child neglect are becoming common in the Zombo district, in 2021, a teenage mother also abandoned a month-old baby at Mawa cell in Paidha town council and, at the beginning of this year, a baby was abandoned at a garage by a teenage mother from the same village of Anyong in Paidha town council,  On the claim that the husband was not taking responsibility.

The LC 3 chairperson of Paidha town council Innocent Godfred Onega has condemned the act before advising couples to engage in productive work to be responsible at their homes.

He also  tasked all  Local Council 1 chairpersons”  to extensively monitor teenage mothers with pregnancies in their respective villages “,

A credible source from child and family protection unit at Paidha Central police station revealed that, ” a mother who first claimed to be epileptic came and picked up the child later”,

It was not clear how the mother was let go yet the case was criminal in nature.

Sadiki juvono, A youth from paidha town council said “The mother should have been extensively investigated to ascertain facts about why she acted in such a criminal way”.

The 2020 statistics from the Ministry of Gender, labour and social development indicate that since 2018, there have been more than 3000 cases of child neglect most of which are as a result of single parenting.