A woman identified as Tina Idoroyen puts her 5 years old daughter’s hands into hot water for stealing fish in Cross Rivers.
It was gathered that Tina Idoroyen who is the mother of two, lives with her daughters at N02, Gregory Street, Ikot Ansa community in Calabar Municipal Local Council of Cross River State.
According to report, Idoroyen, who is a food vendor prepared 19 pieces of fish for her business and went out but met only one piece of fish when she returned.
On finding out that her 5 year old daughter ate the fish, she decided to punish her and in the process of punishing her, she dipped her hands in hot water, which gave her severe burns.
According to source, Counsel to Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in charge of the child’s case, Mr. James Ibor, alleged that the mother admitted that the little girl had not eaten before stealing the fish.
He said;
“The mother alleged that her five-year-old daughter stole her fish, so she dipped her hands in a very hot water, that was how she reacted to the alleged stealing.
“Meanwhile, she admitted that when it happened, the child had not eaten, which means she must have been hungry.
“The woman has nothing, the father of the child abandoned them two years ago and she still has another eight-year-old daughter.
“They can barely feed and she is owing house rent, so if we had not intervened with treatment immediately, that child’s burns would have been badly infected.”
He also said that the matter has not been reported to the police, because the little girl needs the support and care of her mother while in the hospital receiving treatment.
Mr. James Ibor further added by saying that the perpetrator will soon be handed over to the police for prosecution and explained that the child has been moved from a private hospital to the General Hospital in Calabar, where a specialist is handling her treatment.