A 41-year-old man identified as Alhaji Kasali Mumuni has reportedly inflicted serious wound on his two children, 9-year-old Maryam and Ojonla, 6, with hot knife in Owo, Ondo State capital, for allegedly stealing fish.
Mumuni is said to have been married on three occasions but none of his wives stayed with him for more than three years before they were sent packing with their children.
According to Vanguard, Kasali left home that fateful day for work only to return to discover that the only fish in the pot had been eaten.
When he came home and his food was served without fish, hell was let loose.
Narrating what happened, Maryam said it was actually true that Ojonla ate half of the piece of fish in the pot and that when their step-mother returned from her shop, she ate the other half.
She added that as their father returned and was served rice without fish, he flared up and their step-mother told him that the two of them stole the fish reserved for his dinner while she was away from the house.
Angered by what he was told, Maryam said that their father beat them mercilessly and later went into the kitchen to light the stove and put a knife on it.
“When the knife was hot and turned red, he pressed it on our stomachs one after the other. We cried and begged but our father refused to remove the knife,”the girl said.
“Our neighbors, who heard our cries, rushed to the scene only to be told by our father that they should mind their businesses.
“He held us down for several minutes as the knife was pressed on our stomachs”, she added.
She stated that the neighbours later informed officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who rushed to the scene and rescued them.
“We were taken to the State Hospital, Akure by the officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps who later informed the Welfare Department of the state Ministry of Women Affairs”, she said.
The mother of the two children, who relocated to Ila Orangun, Osun State after his divorce from the suspect, is back in Akure to take care of the kids after the torture, allegedly by their father.
An official of the NSCDC confirmed that the suspect was arrested for allegedly inflicting injuries on his children.
He said the suspect, who was still being quizzed, would be prosecuted after investigation was completed.
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