The people of Dafe village, a Gbagyi community in Shiroro local government area of Niger State, were terrified when a 17-year-old housewife, Bara’atu Muhammad cut-off the genitals of her 23-day-old stepson, Buhari Muhammad, spurred by jealousy.
Daily Trust gathered that the boy’s father, Muhammadu Dauda married Buhari’s mother seven years ago and he is the first child of the union. He married Bara’atu just four months ago. All of them hail from Dafe village.
With qualms, Bara’atu confessed that she took the infant from his mother’s room where he was sleeping, to the toilet where she chopped-off his joystick with a kitchen knife.
“I decided to do that in retaliation to insults (I’ve been receiving) from his mother. She has been insulting me,” she explained.
“Anytime I complained to our husband, he will not take action. That was the major reason I used our kitchen knife to cut off his joystick.”
The husband, Muhammad Dauda denied that Buhari’s mother, Basira was in the habit of insulting Bara’atu, adding that the offending wife never reported Basira to him and that as far as he was concerned they were living in peace.
“I never heard them quarrelling, I never saw them fighting. My house is intact. There was no division. I treated them equally,” Dauda insisted, adding that he was shocked when he heard what happened to his son.
He expressed shock that Bara’atu could carry out such a dastardly act: “She never showed any sign of madness. She is mentally okay.”
Buhari’s 21-year-old mother, Basira also denied Bara’atu’s allegations, saying she never insulted her younger mate. “Ever since she was married and came to the house, I took her as my younger sister. That was why I allowed her to be close to my son. I didn’t know that she was planning to kill my son,” she lamented.
Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi who is taking care of the boy at the IBB Specialist Hospital, Minna, said his joystick has already been damaged and shrunken and that there was no way that it can be transplanted to its normal position.
He said the medic will however, try their best to ensure that Buhari survives and lives a normal life. Meanwhile, the Niger State government has promised to take care of Buhari’s medical bills.
The Director of Niger State Child’s Right Agency, Maryam Kolo, said that the state government will do everything possible to ensure that Buhari gets the required medical treatment for his quick recovery.
Niger State police spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana, said Bara’atu has been arraigned before a magistrate’s court and remanded in Minna prison, pending the conclusion of investigations. He added that no stone would be left unturned in ensuring that justice was done for the infant.
This incident happened a few weeks after a 21-month-old boy Musa was severely mutilated by his stepmother in Kano.
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