Police operatives in Jos, Plateau State have arrested one Mrs. Nneamaka Nwachuku, a microbiologist with one of the research institutes in Vom area of the state, for allegedly torturing her 11-year-old maid, identified as Margret Joshua to death.
It was gathered that the Kebbi State-born victim, Margaret Joshua, was fleeing from insecurity in her community before some supposed helpers brought her to Jos to serve in Nwachukwu’s home as housemaid.
A source who spoke to the Vanguard said the suspect, a mother of two, did not enroll the victim in school since the girl was taken in by her family, but allegedly beats her daily.
During a recent beating, the girl was allegedly forced to sit in a container with hot water, which burnt her buttocks, and she reportedly died in the hospital on Monday, November 14.
The Plateau State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Mrs. Grace Pam, whose office is following up on the case, said based on the number of scars and wounds on her body, her guardians must have subjected her to a series of torture, during the period she was with the family.
“Our attention was called to the situation, on Monday, by a staff in the hospital, who said that an 11-year-old girl was seriously beaten and injured by her guardian, in Vom.
The girl had scars and burns on her body. We were told that she was taken to Mandela hospital in Kaduna Vom before she was referred to Jos.
When some of our staff met with the suspect at the Police Station in Vom where she was detained, she confessed she has been beating her and claimed the girl used to masturbate, so she was punishing her so she could stop.
She claimed she did not know what used to come over her because she felt bad anytime she beats the child”.
