A Ugandan maid has been charged with attempted murder after a shocking video went viral online showing her beating a one-year-old girl.
Jolly Tumuhirwe is seen striking baby Arnella Kamanzi during her feeding. Tumuhirwe then throws the child to the ground after she vomits the food.
Tumuhirwe then beats the baby with a torch, and also kicks her in the head and stamps on her torso, before the recording ends. The video has been viewed almost 80,000 times on YouTube.
The maid was originally charged with torture, but police spokesman Fred Enanga has since confirmed that charge has been changed to attempted murder, reported Monitor.
“The charge against her has been amended to attempted murder upon re-perusal by the Resident State Attorney and the pending lines of inquiry in advanced stages,” Enanga said.
“The maid admitted to partly hitting the infant with a torch, a process that was captured in the video clip. She was further subjected to medical tests and established to be a person of sound mind.”
Speaking of the incident, Mary Karooro Okurut, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development in Uganda, said most parents would want to kill a maid who abused a child in this way.
“Given the magnitude of torture meted out on their child, anybody would have picked the nearest object and killed the maid, but [they] followed the law.”
We are also forwarding to Parliament the 2014 Children Amendment Act to strengthen the law on child abuse,” she said.
Tumuhirwe is set to appear in court on December 8. International Business Times
