Woman Batters 7-Year- Old Nephew
Interestingly, the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare has caught another woman who physically assaulted, brutalized and battered a seven-year-old nephew for failing to recite the English alphabet (A,B,C,D…) in the State.
According to report, it was gathered that the victim, identified as Sunday, was taken to the office of the state women and social welfare commissioner, Ify Obinabo, on Tuesday by some residents of the state who saw him after he was brutalised by his guardian, Mrs Abigail Eguta.
Sunday is said to be the child of a single mother but he lives with Mrs Eguta from Ikwo in Ebonyi State.
Mrs. Eguta, who is pregnant and also nursing a child, is reportedly the biological sister of the mother of the boy.
But sources said she had regularly tortured and maltreated Sunday since she brought him to live with her barely a year ago.
It was also gathered that the boy, whose body is dotted with scars of previous injuries inflicted on him by his guardian, had been out of school for a long time.
When she was questioned by the women and social welfare commissioner as to why she battered the little boy in such a manner, Mrs. Eguta claimed she beat the boy for eating the fish she bought for Sunday meal.
But when she was asked if that was the only time she beat the boy, the 24-year-old woman confessed that she also beat him on Monday for not reciting the English alphabet correctly, adding that it was the main reason she wounded him.
However, Mrs. Eguta claimed she did not intend to inflict injuries on the boy’s eyes or make him blind. She said it was by mistake that the beating affected his eyes.
She said, “I am very sorry. I didn’t intend to blind him or beat him in the eyes, but I mistakenly did so. Please, forgive me, it is the handiwork of the devil.”
According to her, her husband who is a businessman beat her in return on Sunday when he saw what she did to the boy.
The commissioner decried the rate of child abuse going on in the state, describing Mrs. Eguta’s action as unjustifiable and unacceptable wickedness against another person’s child.
She ordered the transfer of the case to the state police command for proper investigation, after which the suspect will be charged.
Meanwhile, the victim has been taken to an undisclosed hospital in Awka, the state capital for treatment.
