A mother in Akwa ibom may have scarred her 10-year-old
girl, daughter for life, as she burnt her face with electric iron for
allegedly stealing N200.
The incident happened yesterday in Ikot Ekang Itam, Uruan
Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Read report by an NGO, Child’s
Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN)
Read the full story as shared by CRARN;
Early Thursday, I met ten-year-old Udeme Usen Etukudoh,
an indigene of Ikot Ekang Itam, being treated for burns and a deep cut
on her face at a small pharmacy along Calabar/Itu Road. Upon inquiry, I
learned that Udeme was severely abused by her own mother for “stealing
N200”, the sum which is less than a dollar.
Udeme, a Primary 5 pupil of RCM School, near Itam
Police Divisional Headquarters, said her mother, because of the missing
N200, pushed the plug of an electric iron into an electrical socket and
further applied the extremely hot device on parts of her body. The
burnings later disfigured her face. Not satisfied with the burns, the
girl said her mother used a short wood to hit and tear open her right
chin just by her eye. Her mother, Aniedi Etim Akpan (according to the
little girl), had gone out for petty trading at the popular Itam market
as of the time I visited their house to make findings. Udeme’s
stepfather, whose name could not be ascertained at the time of checks,
and a woman who said she was the little girl’s elder sister, said that
the missing money was stolen by Udeme, and that she deserved the burns
dealt on her as “punishment”. But the little girl, who lives with her
mother and stepfather, denied stealing the money. She said anytime money
gets missing from her step father’s pocket or house, the theft would be
attributed to her. She said she was innocent of the accusation. Upon
further inquiry, Udeme led me to her biological father, Usen Okon
Etukudoh, a bricklayer who lives just close to where his daughter lives
with her mother. Usen said Udeme had opted to stay with her mother,
Aniedi, after their separation some years back, but that he would stab
his former wife with a broken bottle if anything happens to his
daughter.
As at 11.30 am, Udeme, dressed in her school uniform,
had not taken breakfast when I met her at the pharmacy. To show the
extent of trauma the little girl went through, the step-father who took
her to the pharmacy shop rejected the bill of N4,000 he was asked to pay
for the child’s emergency treatment. He wanted to pay N2,000 instead. I
had to buy a loaf of bread and Coca-Cola so that she could eat
something before being administered with what the pharmacy attendant
called “inflammatory injection” to stop the pain. Two things are likely
to happen to the child if her father decides to let her stay
continuously with her mother (as I later told him): it is either that
she leaves the house (to God knows where) in order to be free from
torture or she gets killed secretly by her mother and stepfather. God
help the hapless child!
See more photos below;
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