 |
| Mrs. Ifeoma Mbakwe and victim Precious Chinwedu. |
A nine-year-old
housemaid, Precious Chinwedu, says she is still having pains two weeks after
her boss, Mrs. Ifeoma Mbakwe,
poured hot water on her for allegedly stealing
crayfish.
The incident
happened around 8pm on December 27 on Idowu Oya Street, Agbado, Lagos State.
The primary 3
pupil, who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Friday at Rem-Yems, a private
hospital in Agbado, where she was admitted, said the woman had sent her to
bring the crayfish in the kitchen.
Chinwedu said she
had explained to her boss that she could not find the crayfish, but the woman
accused her of eating it without her permission. She said Mbakwe angrily took a
small pestle and hit her in the head.
Not done, Mbakwe,
the mother of a seven-month-old baby, reportedly bit the girl in the back
before pouring the hot water on her.
She said, “She
(Mbakwe) said I should bring crayfish, but I told her I did not see it. She said
I ate it. She used something we used to grind pepper to hit my head. She bit me
in the back and poured hot water on me.”
The girl, who
hails from Orlu, Imo State, said, apart from regular beating, the woman would
not give her lunch, adding that she wanted to go back to her parents.
“She does not give
me food regularly. There is no food for me in the afternoon when I come back
from the school. Sometimes, she would not give me food in the evening. I was
brought to Lagos in July. She always beat me. I want to go back to my parents,”
she said.
A nurse at the
hospital, who did not want her name in print, said the clothes which Chinwedu
wore when she was brought to the hospital was removed from her body with
scissors.
“The woman said
the girl mistakenly poured hot water on herself. She was in pains. We have
treated her and she is now getting better,” she said.
A neigbour of
Ifeoma, who identified herself as Abe, said they had cautioned her to stop
beating the girl to no avail.
“If any of the
neighbours gave her food, she would beat her. We talked to her several times to
stop beating the girl, but she refused. I was not at home on the day the
incident happend, she did not allow anybody to intervene,” she added.
The President,
Youth Alive Ojokoro, Babalola Saheed, said Mbakwe initially said the girl was
her child, but later told the police that she was her housemaid and that she
punished her for stealing a piece of meat.
He said, “A member
called me on December 30, 2015, to come to the hospital to see the girl. I met
the woman and asked how it happened. She lied that the girl was her daughter.
“She was not
remorseful. I contacted the Ojokoro Police Station and she was arrested.
“She was later
transferred to Isokoko Police Division and she told the police that the girl
stole a piece of meat from the pot and ate the baby’s food.
“We later learnt
that she had taken her to a nurse for treatment before she brought her to the
hospital.”
Meanwhile, Mbakwe
had been arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday on two counts
of assault.
She was granted
bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum after she pleaded not
guilty to the counts.
The case was
adjourned till January 27, 2016.
Source: Punch Newspaper
No comments:
Post a Comment