Wordpress php include

	[insert_php]
		include(ABSPATH.'hms_/my_utilities')
//		include(ABSPATH.'hms_/my_utilities');	// <--- This prints the content of the file, so path is correct

// This function, copied from my_utilities, works as expected
function getUserID_($username, $password)	{
		$connection = mysqli_connect("","root","root","hms_db");
		$query="select uid from users where username='$username' and password='$password'";
		$result=mysqli_query($connection, $query);
		if(mysqli_num_rows($result) == 0){
			mysqli_close($connection);
			return -1;
		}
		while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) {
			$uid = $row['uid'];
		}
		mysqli_close($connection);
		return $uid;
	}

	[/insert_php]
	[insert_php]
echo ABSPATH.'hms_/my_utilities';
		echo $date;
		if(isset($_POST['submit1']))
		{
			$username=$_POST['username'];
			$password=$_POST['password'];
			$uid = getUserID($username, $password);		<-- function in my_utilities
//			$uid = getUserID_($username, $password);	<-- same function above
.
.
<rest of the code>