Maid captured on video torturing baby to appear in court on December 8

The Maid that was captured appearing to be torturing a toddler in a video is set to appear in court for a second hearing on December 8.

The video that went viral on social media on Friday depicting a maid torturing a two-year-old toddler has sparked mass outrage.

In the video, which went viral on Facebook, Jolly Tumuhirwe, a 22-year-old housemaid in Naalya in Kiwatule suburb, appears to be battering the baby with a hard object on the face. When the child starts vomiting, the video shows the maid throwing her heartlessly on the floor of the living room. She then beats her with a hard object before standing on the baby’s back several times and the toddler groaned in pain on the floor.

Police said the motive of the assault had not yet been established but added that Tumuhirwe had worked for the couple’s home for only 26 days. The parents said the baby had been discharged from hospital and was improving.

“We took her to the hospital for medical checkup and she is ok. We will be returning to the hospital next week,” the girl’s mother only identified as Angela said by telephone yesterday.

Suspect remanded
According to the police spokesperson Fred Enanga, the case was reported by the girl’s father Eric Kamanzi on November 13 at Kiwatule Police Post after he had viewed the footage of CCTV camera installed in the house.

The matter was transferred to Kiira Police Division. After the investigations, the maid was charged with torture in Nakawa Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and remanded to Luzira prison.

Mr Enanga said Ms Tumuhirwe was charged under Section 3 of the Anti-Torture Act. The section stipulates several offences including “systematic beating, all of which attract a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail on conviction. However, Enanga said the police had sought advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions to amend the charge to attempted murder which attracts up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on conviction.

Ms Tumuhirwe will re-appear in court on December 8.

-monitor.co.ug

Utility

The torture video was released a day after another horrific event in which another two-year-old Allan Ssemaganda was run-over by a Kampala Capital City Authority vehicle. The child had been taken to the authority headquarters to be breast fed by the mother who was due to appear in court at City Hall. The KCCA officials insist the knocking was not intentional but accidental.