Mother dips five-year-old daughter’s hands in hot water for stealing fish in Cross River
The victim
A mother of two simply known as Tina Idoroyen, has allegedly put her five-year-old daughter’s hands in hot water for stealing her fish.
The survivor lives with Idoroyen, her biological mother and elder sister at N02, Gregory Street, Ikot Ansa community in Calabar Municipal Local Council of Cross River State.
The Guardian learnt that Idoroyen, a food vendor allegedly prepared 19 pieces of fish for her business and went out; on getting back, she met only one piece of fish and discovered that her daughter (name withheld) ate the fish.
In the process of punishing her, she dipped her hands in hot water, which gave her severe burns.
Counsel to Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in charge of the child’s case, Mr. James Ibor, alleged that the mother admitted that the little girl had not eaten before stealing the fish.
He said: “The mother alleged that her five-year-old daughter stole her fish, so she dipped her hands in a very hot water, that was how she reacted to the alleged stealing.
“Meanwhile, she admitted that when it happened, the child had not eaten, which means she must have been hungry.
“The woman has nothing, the father of the child abandoned them two years ago and she still has another eight-year-old daughter.
“They can barely feed and she is owing house rent, so if we had not intervened with treatment immediately, that child’s burns would have been badly infected.”
According to him, the matter has not been reported to the police, because the child needs the support and care of her mother while in the hospital receiving treatment.
Ibor, who assured that the perpetrator will soon be handed over to the police for prosecution, explained that the child has been moved from a private hospital to the General Hospital in Calabar, where a specialist is handling her treatment.
“A crime has been committed and of course, the police will have to be notified.
“She needs to pay for her crime, but we have not taken that decision yet, because it will not be proper to do that now.
“Our commitment now is on the child’s treatment and her mother’s support who has actually been very supportive in staying with the child in the hospital.
“ The child still responds to the issue of love to the mother, so it will be against the child’s interest if we do that now. We are not immediately available to provide the services now. We want the child to heal reasonably, while we discuss prosecution,” he assured.
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