Father shoves six-year-old son into fireplace over Shs500

A Police manhunt is underway in the eastern district of Buyende for a father who allegedly tortured his six-year-old son for reportedly picking Shs20, 000 from his pocket and spending Shs500.

Busoga North Police Spokesperson, Michael Kasadha, said 34-year-old Ivan Wambi, a resident of Namusita Village in Buyende Sub-county, is being sought to answer child torture-related charges after his son, Moses Ngobi was hospitalised at the pediatric ward of Kamuli General Hospital with scald marks.

“We have launched a serious manhunt for Ivan Wambi and upon arresting him, he will be taken through the legal procedure up to the courts of law to answer appropriate charges,” Kasadha said on Monday.

He added: “We shall use the father as an example for others to differentiate discipline from torture.”
Ngobi has been hospitalised since last Thursday after his father allegedly shoved him into the fireplace on which a kettle containing boiling water was placed. The father is said to have immediately fled to an unknown destination upon realising that he had committed a crime.

The victim’s grandmother, Eve Nabirye, who is attending to him, says her grandson suffered burns to his legs, face, stomach and hands, which she described as “being consistent with injuries from charcoal and hot water”.

According to Nabirye, Ngobi had gone an entire day without a meal, and in the absence of his mother at home, he picked Shs20,000 from his father’s trousers to find something to eat worth Shs500 and returned the balance of Shs19,500.

“I later received a call from my daughter asking me to go and take care of my grandson who had been burnt by my son-in-law. I didn’t expect him to torture his own son just because of Shs500 yet he returned a balance of Shs19,500,” Nabirye explained.

Statistics

Cases of child abuse and domestic violence have soared in Busoga North, with Kasadha saying that in 2021, 448 (cases) were topped by child neglect (232), child abuse or torture (80), missing, lost and abandoned children (76), and desertion 60.
Kasadha noted that although the numbers seem to have reduced drastically, according to the bi-annual report, a lot more is desired this year to bring the number to zero.
Kamuli District Senior Probation Officer, Joshua Mboizi, urged communities to rediscover the community focused approach, parenting values, roles and practices and above all differentiate between torture and punishment, and respect children’s rights.