9 year old maid tortured with hot water speaks(Photo)

A nine-year-old housemaid, Precious
Chinwedu, is still in 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.