A 65-year-old man, Chuks Emele, has been arrested for allegedly defiling an eight-year-old boy in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Emele, a father of two, was arrested after the National Human Rights Commission petitioned the police, following a complaint from the boy’s mother.
Recalling the incident three months ago, Emele said the boy had come to collect wage for working on his farm.
“When he entered my room to collect his wage, I grabbed him and slept with him,” he said, and blamed it on the devil.
The Commission in the letter, signed by its Coordinator, Mrs Nkechi Ugwuanyi, made available to journalists, argued that the act violated section 3 sub-sections 1, 2 and 3 of the State Violence Against Persons Prohibition, (VAPP), Law 2017.
Speaking with journalists, Ugwuanyi said the case got to the Commission following the suspect’s refusal to cooperate with stakeholders in the community who waded into the matter.
She said the commission’s interest was to ensure proper treatment of the victim.
“Defiling a minor of eight years is not only against the law, but a criminal offence. The boy as we learnt had been sick since the incident. The community stakeholders stepped in but he did not cooperate with them.
“We made effort to relocate the victim to Ntasi Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Enugwu-Ukwu for proper treatment free of charge but the family did not agree,” she said.
In a telephone interview, the boy’s mother appealed for the law to take its course since the violator had refused to do the needful despite community’s interventions.
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“After the incident, my son had protruded anus. He lost lots of blood which had gone through blood infusion. He is still in the hospital because he runs a high temperature. All I want is justice for my son,” she said.
Doctors treating the boy have confirmed anal penetration, but said he had been tested for HIV.
The suspect, a father of two, blamed the devil for the act, but denied presence of blood on the victim as the mother claimed.
“I don’t know what came over me that day. It is up to three months now. He came to do farm work for me. So, when he entered my room to collect his wage, I grabbed him and slept with him. I regret doing that to the small boy. It was the devil,” he added.
Reacting, Police spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said, “The command is aware of the reported case, and the case is under investigation.”
Daily Trust
