Family at large for bathing 11-year-old girl with hot water

Chris Okey.
Commissioner of Police, Imo State.

A woman simply identified as Mrs. Promise, her husband and three children are currently on the run for allegedly bathing a neighbour’s daughter, Chika Nkwazema, with hot water which had left the 11-year-old with severe injuries and currently hospitalised.Chika’s mother, Mrs. Ngozi Nkwazema, on Thursday at the children’s ward of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State, where her daughter was receiving treatment, said the suspects bathed her daughter with hot water when her children and those of the suspects had an argument.

She said though the fighting children had been separated, Mrs. Promise ran into her kitchen, brought out some hot water and poured it on Chika, a primary six girl.

Ngozi, a widow, who hails from Emekuku in the Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, said the incident occurred on Saturday night at an apartment she rented in Mbieri in the Mbaitoli LGA of the state.

She said that the hot water affected her daughter’s laps, breasts, back, hands and neck, living her unconscious for days.

The troubled mother of five said she immediately reported the matter to the Orie Mbieri Police Station, but before she could arrive the compound with the police officers, the woman, her husband and three children had fled.

The embittered woman who decried the wickedness, called on public spirited individuals to help her family with medical bills and ensure that justice is served.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident and said the Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, had ordered the fleeing suspects to be arrested.

Enwerem said the Police had visited the victim in the hospital, adding that her health condition was being closely monitored by the command.