Tragedy struck Wednesday evening at Angwar Baba area of New Nyanya, Nassarawa State, when a 24-year-old mother of two, Esther Opara was allegedly stabbed to death by her mother in-law.
The deceased hailed from Enugu State while her mother-in-law is from Umuopara, Umuahia, Abia State. The deceased’s aunt, Mrs. Faith Okpudo, told our reporter that while at Kano, she received a call from her elder sister Wednesday night that her niece has been stabbed to death by her mother-in-law after arguments over photographs.
She said she was informed that the mother-in-law took some of her personal photographs and that she demanded to have them back, to which she refused.
Mrs Okpudo said her late niece was said to have asked her husband to tell his mother to hand over her personal photographs to her, but the husband was alleged to have sided with his mother, insisting that the mother should have the photographs.
“We were told that she started quarrelling with her husband for not supporting her. She cried and entered the room, packing her things but her mother in-law allegedly came from behind and stabbed her on the stomach twice.
When she removed the knife from her stomach, her intestines came out with the knife. The mother-in-law was said to have run out of the house and the husband ran after her but returned to the wife when her cry was too much,’’ she narrated.
She said a neighbour assisted the husband to rush the victim to the hospital where she was confirmed dead. The deceased’s husband, Chinedu Opara, who works at Kuchiko Masaka, said his wife reported to him that his mother had taken all her pictures but he told her to ignore her.
He said his mother had been with them since he married his late wife and they had not been enjoying peace. “When I told my wife to ignore her, she entered the room but the next thing I heard was a cry. I entered the room immediately I heard that noise and I saw my mother with a knife and blood stains. I looked at the floor and saw my wife’s intestine outside her stomach,’’ he said.
He said his mother ran away after the incident, adding that he initially pursued her but returned back because of the condition of his wife and the cries of the children.
The husband said his mother had never been nice to his late wife since they got married, adding that they had been married for four years and blessed with two girls, Chinelo and Sharon.
Father of the deceased, Cosmos Anyanwu, said his late daughter had on several occasions complained of threat to her life and that on three occasions, he had brought her back to his house but her husband kept begging him.
The deceased’s mother, Mrs. Loritta Anyanwu, appealed to the police to produce the woman who killed her daughter.
‘’Police should ensure justice by arresting and prosecuting the woman who snuffed life out of my daughter and ran away,” she pleaded.
Sergent Aiki Tahiru; the Investigation Police Officer in charge of the case at New Nyanya police division, said the police are still investigating the cause of the death and that the woman is presently at large.
“We need the general public to help us with the information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect,’’ he said.
[Daily Trust]
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