An 18-year-old woman in Pallisa is under arrest as police probe the disappearance of her infant son.
The suspect, Mercy Kokoi of Okuderia Cell, Pallisa Town Council, is being held at Pallisa Police Station under CRB 277/2026 over suspected infanticide.
According to Bukedi North Police spokesperson ASP Wilfred Kyempasa, Kokoi became pregnant in October 2025 but never named the baby’s father to her family. She gave birth to a boy on May 17, 2026, and lived with her mother, Josephine Ariao.
The case emerged on June 19. Ariao told police she left Kokoi with the baby in the morning and returned around 9 pm to find her daughter alone.
“Upon returning at around 9 pm, she allegedly found Kokoi at home without the child. When asked about the whereabouts of the baby, the suspect told her mother that she had handed the child over to his father,” ASP Kyempasa said.
Family members were suspicious because no one knew the father. Ariao reported the matter to police.
Initially, Kokoi stuck to that story. ‘During initial questioning, the suspect maintained that she had given the baby to the father and could not trace where he had taken the child,’ police said.
But on June 22, her account changed.
According to Mr. Kyempasa, ‘the suspect allegedly told investigators that she did not report the death or raise an alarm, but instead carried the infant’s body and dumped it in a latrine at Agule Central Primary School’ after finding the baby dead at home on June 19.
Scene of Crime officers visited the latrine and documented the site. Police have recorded statements from Ariao and other witnesses and have launched a search to recover the baby’s body.
“The search for the suspected missing body is ongoing, and inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the child’s disappearance and death are still underway,” Kyempasa said.