Father Of 2 burn toddler stomachs with red hot knife for allegedly stealing fish

                                      

A father burned the stomachs of his two children with red hot knife in Owo, Ondo State capital over the allegation that they stole.

Alhaji Kasali Mumuni, 41, is the father of Maryam, 9, and Ojonla, 6. He has been married thrice but report had it that none of his wives stayed with him for more than three years before they were sent packing with their children. 

Sunday Vanguard gathered that Kasali  left home that fateful day for work only to return to discover that the only fish in the pot had been eaten  without consideration for the bread winner of the house. It was learnt that one of the children  took half of the fish in the pot and, when their step- mother returned from where she sells herbs in one of the motor parks  in Owo, she  ate the remaining half. 

Meanwhile, when the father of the house came much later and his food was served without   fish,   hell was let loose. The step-mother, who allegedly was  not comfortable with the continued stay of the two children in the house, was said to have heaped the blame on the kids, accusing them before their father that they  stole the only fish reserved for him. 

Kasali’s third wife, who, it was learnt, is yet to have a child for him, had  allegedly been asking the husband to allow the two children to  go and stay with their mother because their presence in the house was making her uncomfortable.

Narrating  what she and her sibling went through to Sunday Vanguard, 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. 

According to her, when their father returned and was served rice without  fish, he flared up  and their step-mother told him that the two of them went into the pot behind her to steal 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 stated that the neighbors 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 reported informed the Welfare Department of the state Ministry of Women Affairs”.

 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. 

Sunday Vanguard was informed that Kasali  is in detention in Owo  and would soon be transferred to the  state police command headquarters in Akure for further interrogation and prosecution.