A Nigerian woman, Mrs Nnamaka Nwachukwu, has been arrested by operatives of the Plateau State Police Command for allegedly torturing an 11-year-old girl, Margaret Joshua, to death in Jos.
The suspect, who works as a microbiologist at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom (NVRI) Plateau, was accused of forcing the minor to sit in a bowl of hot water, causing severe injuries in her buttocks and private part.
Mrs Nwachukwu, a resident of K-Vom, Jos south LGA, was also said to have tortured and inflicted injuries on the minor until she gave up the ghost.
Spokesman of the police command, Alfred Alabo, who confirmed the incident on Thursday, November 17, said the minor escaped from her hometown in Kebbi state over insecurity and was brought to Jos by a ‘helper’ who gave her out as a maid to the suspect.
However, the suspect started beating her at the slightest provocation and refused to register her in school despite promising to sponsor her education.
Grace Pam, coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Plateau, said the injuries on the minor’s corpse is consistent with that of torture but the suspect claims the girl fell into a bowl of hot water and ran away from home for 24hrs.
See photos of the minor’s body below,
[GRAPHIC WARNING]
Pam further revealed that the girl was found in a building (pictured below) and was taken to the police station before she was rushed to a hospital where she passed away few hours later.
“Our attention was called about the situation on Monday, by a staff of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), who said that an 11-year-old girl had been seriously beaten up and injured by her guardian,” Pam said.
“On getting to the hospital, we saw several old and new scars, and injuries on her entire body. We were told that she was taken to Mandela hospital in K-Vom, but was referred to JUTH due to the severity of her wounds.
“When we met the suspect at the police station where she was initially detained, she claimed that the girl used to masturbate, and so she was beating her to serve as punishment to make her stop.
“She claimed she did not know what used to come over her each time she beats the girl because she quickly regrets it after the act.
“The suspect also claimed that the deceased fell into hot water after which she ran out of the house and did not return for almost 24 hours.”
Meanwhile, the police are still investigating the case and will charge the suspect to court soon.
