Aunt ‘disfigures’ 8-year-old boy with electric iron over groundnut in C/River

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 11:59 pm

The rescued boy with scars from the hot iron on his body

*Denied food for a day for eating N50 groundnut because of hunger

An eight-year-old boy has been rescued from an Aunt whose name is yet to be revealed because of torturing and traumatising of the young child.

The latest of such torture, according to reports, was the disfiguring of the child’s buttocks and body with a hot iron just because he ate the N50 groundnut when the aunt was not at home.

It was gathered that the incident happened at Anantigha, Calabar South, on Sunday, August 16, after the alleged guardian of the boy and the two siblings returned from Sunday service, only to discover that the groundnut she left at home was gone.

She reportedly confronted the boy about the missing groundnut, then plugged in an electric iron and used it to burn his backsides while also denying him food for the day.

Sources revealed that old scars were found on the boy’s body and fingers, a sign that the Aunt has been abusing him for a very long time.

The victim and his other siblings have been living with the ‘cruel’ aunt for about three years.

Confirming the report to Journalists on Monday, August 17, the Principal Counsel, Basic Rights Initiative, James Ibor, revealed that their office had received a distress call from Girl Power Initiative, GPI, that a lady had been assaulting her nephew with a hot iron, burning stove and other hot objects.

Ibor said the incident was not the first time on the child based on their findings after the N50 left-over groundnut incident.

“From what the boy has told us, which is also very visible, he has been tortured and traumatised, and the boy is in serious pains. From here we are taking him to a medical facility where he can get adequate care,” Ibor revealed.

He added, “We have written to the Police and the State Ministry of Humanities and Social Welfare to enable us take good care of him in our own shelter home, because we cannot allow the child to go back to the aunt again.