Poor mother, 17, kills and buries her 8-month-old son

Kwania |A 17-year-old poor mother is accused of killing and burying her eight-month-old son in Kwania district.

On January 1, 2025, law enforcement officials in the district arrested Acilu Mariam, 17, on charges of murdering her child and concealing the act from the public.

According to SP Jimmy Patrick Okema, the North Kyoga region police PRO, Acilu lives in Apwori village, Acenlworo parish, Atongtidi sub-county, Kwania.

SP Okema said in a statement on Wednesday that 64-year-old man, Godfrey Okech, a member of Acenlworo parish’s child protection committee, alerted the police after Acilu misled her relatives by claiming she had taken the child to his father.

Acilu allegedly deceived her family about the whereabouts of her eight-month-old son on December 30, 2024. However, on January 1, 2025, under pressure, she confessed to killing the child, identified as Olwa Innocent, and burying him in her garden.

SP Okema said the suspect stated that she was unable to provide for the child.

The Teilwa police station was notified, resulting in her arrest and transfer to Kwania Central Police Station for further questioning and investigation.

“It is tragic that a young mother would harm her own child,” Okema said, adding that the police are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to ensure justice is served to the innocent victim.

Teenage motherhood, combined with school dropouts, is common throughout the Lango sub-region, according to various reports.

In Lango, one in three young girls is either pregnant or has given birth, according to Jackson Chekweko, executive director of Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU).

“How many of these pregnancies end in a safe delivery? Or even unsafe abortions, how many of which have resulted in death?” he asked in 2020 at an event where the Lango Cultural Foundation, led by Won Nyaci Yosam Odur, and RHU signed resolutions to promote family planning.

In 2020, RHU reported that 27.4% of married women and girls in the Lango sub-region had unmet family planning needs.