This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, the High Court in Gulu, Uganda, overturned the conviction of a woman accused of injecting a six-month-old baby with HIV-infected blood.
The woman, Sylvia Kyomuhangi, was initially sentenced to two years in jail by a lower court in Kitgum District on July 6, 2019, after being found guilty of injecting the baby with HIV-infected blood.
However, the High Court, presided over by Justice Stephen Mubiru, ruled that the evidence presented was insufficient to prove the woman's guilt, citing a lack of sharp objects and bloodstains at the scene of the alleged crime.
Justice Mubiru stated that the forensic tests showed that DNA traces found on the cloth used to wrap the baby were the woman's, but did not contain any blood.
The acquittal of Ms. Kyomuhangi is seen as a victory for the community of people living with HIV/AIDS, who are often stigmatized.
