The father of a 17-year-old girl,
identified simply as Senami, is on the run after allegedly cutting his
daughter’s leg with a hot knife.
It was learnt that the father, who was identified only as Azama, tortured the girl, who hawks Dokunu (local dish), for returning home late on Sunday, May 4. She was said to have returned home earlier on the fateful day, but went back to collect payment from some customers who bought Dokunu on credit.
Our correspondent was told that Senami’s
explanation to her father fell on deaf ears. He reportedly tied her
with a rope and used the hot knife on her left leg.
It was gathered that
Senami had helped her stepmother, Rukayat, to hawk the goods, which she
usually did in the evening every day. Senami lives with the couple in
the Badagry area of Lagos.
It was also learnt that a seven-year-old
girl, Aliat Musa, also lives with the couple. She was said to have been
tortured by Rukayat. Musa, who is Rukayat’s cousin, sustained injury in
the head during one of the tortures.
It was said that the injuries drew
attention of the teachers in the school which Senami attended. One of
her teachers, it was learnt, took her to a social welfare office in
Badagry. The teacher later took her to the Ajeromi Police Station, where
the case was reported.
Senami, an indigene of Benin Republic,
said, “On May 4, after I came back from hawking, daddy (Azama) ordered
me to go back and collect the N500 my customers owed me. I came back
home late. I did not know my father had put a knife on the fire. He tied
my leg and started stabbing me with the knife.
“When I got to the school the following
day, my teacher, Mr. Okoafose, took me to a welfare office and we all
went to a police station.”
An employee of the welfare organisation, who preferred not to be named, said the victim was “utterly abused.”
She said, “The subject (Senami) reported that she hawked Dokunu
every day after school. This is a clear case of child abuse. It is high
time parents stopped this inhumane act. We will ensure that the father
is arrested.”
While Azama is still at large, his wife was arrested for assaulting Musa. She was arraigned before an Apapa Magistrate’s Court.
Appearing before the presiding
magistrate, Mr. P.A. Adekomaya, on Thursday, Rukayat pleaded guilty to
the two counts preferred against her by a prosecutor, Inspector Olusoji
Ojaokoma.
The magistrate subsequently sentenced her to three months of community service.
Adekomaya said, “Upon the quilty plea by
the accused, she is sentenced to three months community service to be
carried out at the Badagry General Hospital.”
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