Kasese
Police in Kasese have arrested two people, including the aunt and stepbrother of a four-year-old girl who died after allegedly taking a bottle of juice suspected to have been laced with poison.
The deceased has been identified as Musoki Leticia, a resident of Kamuruli Village, Kagando Parish, Kisinga Sub-county, Kasese District.
According to police, Leticia died on September 21, 2026, shortly after taking a bottle of Lucky Juice allegedly given to her by her aunt, Mbabazi Mary.
Rwenzori East Regional Police spokesperson ASP Elly Maate said the incident occurred at about 10:00 a.m. when Leticia's 10-year-old stepbrother, Mumbere Lodrick, returned from his grandparents' home in Kiyenge Village, Kitabu Sub-county.
Maate said Mbabazi allegedly gave Lodrick the bottle of Lucky Juice and instructed him to give it specifically to Leticia.
“She also cautioned him not to taste it and gave him Shs1,000 to buy his own Lucky Juice from Kiburara Trading Centre,” Maate said.
According to police, Lodrick later gave the juice to Leticia in the absence of her parents and threw the empty bottle into a dustbin after she had taken the drink.
Maate said Leticia subsequently went to sleep, but when her mother returned home and tried to wake her, she was unresponsive.
“She was rushed to Kagando Hospital, where she was pronounced dead,” Maate said.
The body was later taken to Muhokya Sub-county for burial.
However, the area chairperson reportedly became suspicious about the circumstances surrounding the death and reported the matter to Kiburara Police Station on September 22.
Police subsequently arrested Mbabazi and Lodrick for questioning.
Maate said police examined and documented the scene, recorded statements from relevant witnesses and retrieved the body from Muhokya for a postmortem examination at Bwera Hospital.
“The relevant exhibits, including the empty bottle and some vomit, were recovered for toxicological analysis,” he said.
Maate said investigations into the matter were ongoing.
