Police have confirmed the arrest of a woman and her brother for allegedly throwing a 13-year-old girl, Bridget Samuel, into boiling water. According to Trust TV News Group, who visited her at the Federal Medical Center in Jalingo where she is receiving treatment for burns, it was reported that she was alleged to have stolen 5,000 naira.
Bridget Samuel, a 13-year-old girl, left her father’s house to stay with her uncle, who had agreed to enroll her in school while she lived with him in a nearby village. One month into Bridget’s stay, her uncle’s wife sent her on an errand to a neighbor who later claimed she stole 5,000 naira from the neighbor’s house. The angry neighbor and her brother, despite Bridget’s insistence on being innocent, reportedly grabbed her, tied her hands, and put them in boiling water.
“One of my uncles picked me from my father’s village to his village and promised to enroll me in school. One day, his wife sent me to a neighbor’s house and when I got there, I met a boy lying in front of the house. He told us that there was nobody in the house, and we turned back. Later in the evening, the woman came to our house saying that I stole her money. I told her I did not, but she insisted I did, so she grabbed me, tied my two hands, and put them into boiling water that she mixed with sand and pepper,” said Bridget.
Bridget’s father later reported the case to the police after his brother, who took Bridget in, failed to show up to explain what transpired. “One of my wife’s brothers came to my house one month ago when I was not around and asked my wife to release our daughter to go live with him. I refused from the beginning, but my wife insisted, so I agreed on the ground that she was going to enroll in school since she was stuck.
The Taraba State Police Commissioner confirmed the incident, adding that the accused are in custody. “Domestic violence is a crime, and we should not continue to use our strength to subjugate and subdue others and terrorize others, particularly those who look up to us and depend on us for survival. A 13-year-old girl under the custody of a guardian is being treated this way. I urge you to go to the hospital because she is still undergoing treatment, to go and interview her in the hospital because we are not sure whether those hands will still be useful for her in her lifetime any longer, but the doctors are actually working around the clock to see that she is restored to normalcy….Seē _ Morē