The authorities in Western Equatoria State’s Yambio County have confirmed the disappearance of a one-month-old baby who was reportedly stolen during a funeral in Asanza Boma on Wednesday night.
Yodita Santo, the sister of the child’s mother, told this publication that the mother attended the funeral with her infant and later fell asleep while carrying the baby. She said the mother had earlier noticed a man dressed in black clothes with his face partially covered sitting nearby.
According to Yodita, when the mother woke up, both the man and the baby had disappeared.
The family immediately reported the incident to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and circulated photographs of the child in an effort to trace the missing infant. One suspect was arrested but was later found to be innocent and released.
She appealed to the public to assist in locating the child and urged people to seek lawful means of resolving disputes instead of resorting to criminal acts.
“The family is in deep sorrow,” she said. “We have taken the mother to church for prayers and are appealing to anyone with information to help reunite the child with the family.”
Yambio County Commissioner Angelo Bakote confirmed the incident and attributed some of the challenges in addressing such cases to poor communication and delays in reporting incidents to authorities.
He urged parents and guardians to remain vigilant and closely monitor their children, especially during gatherings with large crowds.
“We are working with security organs to trace the child and identify those responsible,” he said. “Information is being collected to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
The commissioner said the incident occurred in the Asanza area within Yambio Municipality and that county authorities are collaborating with the municipal administration and security agencies to locate the missing child.
Neither Yodita Santo nor the family disclosed whether the missing infant is a baby boy or a girl. Police authorities had not commented on the incident by the time of publication.
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