A magistrate’s court in the central Ugandan town of Masaka has convicted and later sentenced a 34-year-old woman for feeding her neighbor’s 10-month-old baby feces and urine.

The prosecution led by George Kalinaki told the court that “on November 4, Stella Namwanje, a resident of Binyonyi A, Nyendo-Mukungwe division in Masaka town, was captured in a viral phone video showing her feeding her friend’s child with feces.

Kalinaki said that after receiving the video, his neighbors reported the matter to authorities, leading to the convict’s arrest.

The state said the child was examined and found with a healing wound on his left eye, which indicated that the convict had tortured him by feeding the baby feces.

According to Kalinaki, Namwanje was also examined and found to be HIV positive.

Namwanje, who was found guilty after pleading guilty, asked the court to pardon her saying she “doesn’t know what came over her”.

“Your Honor, I ask you to forgive me for my actions. I pray that you give me a sentence based on what I have done,” Namwanje pleaded.

But in handing down his ruling, Masaka Chief Magistrate Aloysius Natwijuka described the convict’s character as “unsuitable for society”.

“The condemned person’s actions were serious and barbaric and she does not deserve clemency. I agree with the State that it is necessary to protect young, innocent children from people like the convict. There are so many people who do the same thing with innocent children but are free,” Natwijuka said.

Natwijuka reasoned that the prison sentence would serve as a deterrent message to people like Namwanje who target innocent souls.

However, Natwijuka observed that the convict was a remorseful first-time offender who did not waste the court’s time.

“I think she deserves a second chance when she serves her sentence. I will therefore sentence her to 35 years of imprisonment,” Natwijuka ruled.

The victim’s mother, Olivia Mbabazi, who was not in court at the time of the sentencing, said Monitor on the phone that she was not satisfied with the sentence.

“The offender should have been sentenced to death,” she reacted Thursday.