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.
PUNCH Metro 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.”
Source:Punch
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