Tuesday 20 August 2013

Doctor arrested for role in baby-switch incident


By Simon Masaba and Violet Nabatanzi

The Police have arrested Dr. Asinja Kapuru over his role in the alteration of medical documents leading to the swapping of a live male baby with a dead female one.
On 12 July 2006, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioner’s Council heard that Kapuru was involved in switching Sauda Nabakiibi’s live male baby with a dead female one at Mulago Hospital.
On Monday, Kapuru appeared before the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Directorate (CIID)) to respond to summons over his role in switching the babies.
Police detectives attached to CIID based in Kibuli, Kampala interrogated Kapuru for six hours and by press time, he was still being questioned by the Police.
A highly placed Police detective from CIID told New Vision that the Police were grilling Kapuru over the role he played during the time Sauda Nabakiibi lost her baby at Mulago Hospital in 2006.
Last week the council suspended Kapuru from practising medicine for two years in Uganda and the rest of the world.
According to council, Kapuru, reported that he delivered Nabakiibi of a baby boy by caesarean section, but it was in poor condition because of severe asphyxia (breathing complications at birth).
During the council’s investigations, he further stated that he filled in two reports, the first one indicating that the baby was male and the second one indicating that the baby was female.
Kapuru also explained to the council that he was convinced to change the record by a senior nursing officer, who insisted that the baby was a girl, arguing that all other records indicated that it was a girl, except his record which indicated that the baby was a boy.
He stated that he blindly believed the nurse that he could not have been keen in recognising that the baby was a girl and accepted to re-write the theatre notes.
He expressed regret for agreeing to alter the theatre record.