A woman, Mrs Martina Samaila Jatau, has burnt her eight-year-old son with hot water for allegedly removing a nut from her grinding machine in Kaduna.
The boy was said to have sold the nut to scavengers at the sum of N1,500.It was gathered that the incident took place at Romi, in Chikun Local Government Area of the state on Monday, December 6, 2021.
Speaking on the incident, the Commissioner, Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed-Baba, said the state government would get to the root cause of the incident.
“The woman said that was her way of punishing her child for selling one nut from her grinding machine to scavengers. She bathed the child with the water she boiled to take her bath after beating him,” Hafsat said.
She noted that the child is receiving treatment at a government hospital after being rescued by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
“We are happy he’s responding well to treatment,” the commissioner said.
She added that, “The woman involved tried to run away but we were able to arrest her. Already, we have involved the human rights committee of the Nigerian Bar Association to help unveil the reason for the woman’s action.
“How can you give birth to a child and burn the child with hot water which is the concern to us? We have not been able to interact with the child because he’s still in pain. But the investigation will let us into why the boy did what he did. Could it be he was hungry; we do not know yet.”
She said the ministry will use the opportunity to engage the service of psychiatrists to examine the woman and ascertain her state of mental health.
She noted the suspect would be charged to court soon.
