The Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the state police command, has apprehended a woman, Chinyere Ifesinachi, for allegedly torturing her maid, identified as Idinmachukwu, with a pestle and cane.
A viral video showing the little girl’s swollen eyes together with injuries sustained all over her body as a result of the beating, had been circulating on social media since Friday.
Confirming the arrest to journalists on Saturday, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, said the culprit was arrested on Friday and the case transferred to the State Criminal and Investigation Department of the police command, Awka, the state capital.
The suspect, a 25-year-old from Alor community, pleaded with the commissioner to forgive her, saying her “actions were orchestrated by the devil”.
She claimed she had beaten her maid with the pestle and cane because the help threw her child to the ground.
Obinabo assured the victim of safety, telling her she would not be returning to Ifesinachi’s house after she was taken to the hospital for a medical examination.
While appreciating those who raised the alarm about the incident, the commissioner warned that anyone caught abusing a child in the state would face the consequences.
“It is also worthy of note that immediately the attention of the ministry was drawn to the incident, contacts were quickly established and a team, together with some NGOs and the police, was put together to arrest the perpetrator.
“Furthermore, the said culprit is related to the mother of the little girl which is the major reason why they accepted to send their daughter to live with her”.
She disclosed that the victim’s medical bills had been paid by some Nigerians in the diaspora, adding that she would still be undergoing medical examinations and treatments to ascertain the extent of the damage.
It was gathered that the biological parents of the maid sent their daughter to live with the suspect in March after she was delivered of a set of twins and was finding it difficult to cope.
“Our daughter left us since March, but it is very unfortunate that barely two months of her stay, she got all kinds of ill-treatment from a woman who is supposed to be her guardian”, one of the girl’s parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.
