Wife opens up: ‘My hubby used hot iron, screw driver to burn me’
For 36 year-old Mrs Mercy Nnamdi, the woman whose one-year-old son was allegedly killed by her husband recently in Ago, Okota area of Lagos, over her husband’s allegation that she was sleeping with his father, life could never have been more cruel.
For 36 year-old Mrs Mercy Nnamdi, the woman whose one-year-old son was allegedly killed by her husband recently in Ago, Okota area of Lagos, over her husband’s allegation that she was sleeping with his father, life could never have been more cruel.
This
is because never in her wildest imagination had she envisaged that a
man she had known almost all her life could mete such inhuman treatment
on her. As you read this piece, Mercy is going through excruciating
pains in a private hospital in Okota where doctors are battling to save
her life.
In
fact, the once bubbling woman looks a shadow of herself, as medical
report showed that she sustained a third degree burns from the hot iron
her husband of two years used on her on Saturday, April 7 2012, which
was exclusively reported by Vanguard.
Presently,
the badly burnt woman maintains a particular position, by sleeping on
her back. She wears an adult pampers when she eases herself, with a
tissue paper by her side, with which she cleans the fluid coming out
from the burns. Help, as gathered, was far from the Imo state-born
woman, as none of her neighbours attempted to go and find out what was
happening when she was desperately shouting for help. It was learnt that
their neighbours failed to respond to her cries for help because it has
become a daily occurrence.
Crime
Guard gathered also that on several occasions, some of the neighbours
invited policemen from Ago division who cautioned her husband after
which he was made to sign an undertaking never to raise his hands on his
wife.
Family
sources hinted that signs of danger in the marriage reared its ugly
face early after the two love birds fell in love 16 years ago, when Mary
was barely 22 years old. But she was apparently blinded by love, hoping
that her heartthrob would outgrow his anger someday, which was never
to be.
Narrating
what led to her being a patient in the hospital, Mary stated, “It all
happened on a Saturday. I had prepared boiled yam, awaiting the arrival
of my husband. After a long wait, I decided to eat mine and left his on
the table. He came back few minutes to 11pm and went straight to bed.
Then at about 1 a.m., power was restored and he went to put off the
power generating set and switched over to electricity.
After that, he started ironing his customers’ clothes because he is a dry cleaner.
I was later woken up by the cry of our one-year-old baby who apparently needed breast milk. All the while, we were outside before power was restored. Before retiring inside, I took my bath and fetched water for him to have his.
I was later woken up by the cry of our one-year-old baby who apparently needed breast milk. All the while, we were outside before power was restored. Before retiring inside, I took my bath and fetched water for him to have his.
The unforgettable night
I
was fast asleep when I was woken up by a sharp pain on my back. I
thought it was a night mare. But when I opened my eyes, lo and behold,
my husband was planting the hot iron he was using on the clothes on me.
Immediately I turned, he planted it on my chest. When I raised my hand
to prevent it, he planted it on one of my hands . By then I did not know
what to do. I started screaming and calling on my neighbours for help. I
raised my leg to prevent him, again, he landed the hot iron on me.
As
he planted the hot iron hard on my flesh, he would use a screw driver
to peel off the flesh. At a point, I became too weak to shout. I begged
him to stop but he would not. Rather, he would ask me to tell him how
many times his father slept with me. Even in pains, I begged him to
listen to himself and imagine what he was saying. My response seemed to
anger him the more because he would plant it harder, leaving it on my
skin and at the same time, asked me to tell him the truth.”
At
this point, Crime Guard asked if she was guilty of the claim. She
grimaced and replied, “How can that be? The father already has a
wife.” Pausing for a while and staring at the ceiling , a position she
has been maintaining for several hours, she continued, “ at that
point, my baby woke up and started crying . I begged him to allow me
breast feed the baby .
But
before I could finish the statement, he placed the hot iron on my
breasts, threatening to kill me if I shout. As he lifted the iron, I
saw that the flesh from my breast had stuck to the iron surface. Again
he pressed it harder on my stomach, leaving it there. I managed to turn,
only for the iron to land on my lap.
He
told me there was no way of escape for me that night, that members of
his gang were outside to take my corpse to an unknown destination by the
time he finished with me. At that point, I knew the end had come for
me. I managed to shout out for help with all the strength in me but I
could not.
At
that point, he forcefully took Ebuka from the bed and went outside. I
decided to go out because I did not know what he would do next when he
came back. I cannot tell how I crawled out of the room. But I found
myself in the kitchen naked, from where two men who saw me gave me
wrapper to cover myself.
“As
I was there, trying to fathom how I would escape from the compound,
somebody shouted that my husband had killed my child. That was the last
thing I heard. I guessed I passed out because I later opened my eyes and
found myself in the hospital.”
Residents
of Number 3, Lambe street, Ago confirmed to Crime Guard that they
simply refused to go to Mary’s rescue that night because it was late and
also that her shout for help had been one too many .
One
of them said, “ Since they started living as husband and wife, there
had never been a time we did not experience shout or crisis from their
one-room apartment. It is worse any time the man came home drunk. We
have even gone to report to the police when it became too much because
we did not want a situation where he would kill her one day and we would
be held responsible. Even at that, he did not stop.
“Several
times, the woman had wanted to go back to her family but she wouldn’t.
Even her father-in-law had advised her to leave when she travelled home
last December because he was tired of the endless reports of his son
battering his daughter in-law.”
Weeping,
after pausing for a while, Mary recalled how he met her 37-year-old
husband. “ We knew each other since 1996. The relationship blossomed
until 2010, when he went for introduction in my village. I left my hair
dressing skill and moved in with him with the hope of continuing later.”
But
that was never to be as she revealed that rather than continuing
learning hair dressing, she started selling pap, all in a bid to make
ends meet and apparently as a demonstration of her love for Henry.
“He
started showing his real colour later. He started by refusing to drop
money for house keep and even when I begged him to rent a shop for me,
he didn’t. Rather, he used the money to drink beer and smoke . When I
advised him against his drinking and smoking habit, he would flare up
and the next thing would be to hit me. Several times I have begged the
police to help me beg him not to raise his hands on me but he wouldn’t”
Another predicament befalls Mary
Sadly, the anguished woman is faced with another predicament which is her inability to pay her medical bills. Already, Crime Guard gathered that her bill had amounted to N200,000 . Following this development, the hospital is threatening to stop treatment. Presently, the dressing of the burns which ought to be done on daily basis has been extended to once in two or three days, as a daily dressing cost s N10,000.
Sadly, the anguished woman is faced with another predicament which is her inability to pay her medical bills. Already, Crime Guard gathered that her bill had amounted to N200,000 . Following this development, the hospital is threatening to stop treatment. Presently, the dressing of the burns which ought to be done on daily basis has been extended to once in two or three days, as a daily dressing cost s N10,000.
Sobbing
uncontrollably and at the same time questioning her choice of partner,
she revealed that her family members had not shown up since the
incident occurred, as none of them, according to her, was aware of the
incident.
“My
mother must not hear of this because it will kill her. She is presently
taking care of my sister who just put to bed in Owerri. I can not reach
my relatives either because my phone is not with me and I do not have
their phone numbers off hand.”
Crime
Guard learnt that since the incident took place, her father in-law
had been responsible for the hospital bills. But there is little Pa
Nnamdi could do as the bill, as gathered, had gone beyond his capacity.
Hospital sources disclosed that though their management had tried to
attend to Mary’s case, there are indications that it might discharge her
if the accrued bill is not cleared.
One
of the doctors who identified himself simply as Eze explained that
“she had a third degree burn and her case may deteriorate if she does
not receive adequate care. She even fainted last Tuesday because she
was not given food and her people lacked the fund to bring her back to
normal state.”
He
further disclosed that Mary was rushed to the hospital in a state of
coma, adding that , “ The husband used pliers on her skin and decimated
her. Then a hot iron was applied on her face, body chest, and her two
breasts. Meanwhile, she has not been informed of the demise of her
one-year-old son considering her present state.”
However,
the alleged perpetrator of this dastardly act, Mr Henry Nnamdi who was
arrested by neighbours, is currently at the State Criminal Investigation
Department , Panti, Yaba. Efforts to speak with him proved abortive.
No comments:
Post a Comment