Social workers in Ho have taken a nine-year-old girl into care after she was burnt with a hot-pressing iron by her aunt with whom she lived for two years at Ho New Housing.
Over the period, the basic schoolgirl (name withheld) was allegedly asked to sell soya kebab on the street every morning before going to school.
If she did not make good sales, she was said to have been subjected to various forms of physical torture by her paternal aunt.
The torture is said to have taken an extreme turn for the helpless child on Friday (May 5) when she returned from selling.
This time, her aunt said the sales were shot by GHc50 and accused the child of stealing the money.
She is said to have grabbed a hot pressing iron and burnt the legs and hand of the girl who bore the excruciating pain in silence.
One of the burns was very close to her private part.
A week after the incident (Thursday, May 11) the girl was asked again to go and sell the stuff on the street before going to school.
Social welfare unit head
She was spotted by the Ho Municipal Social Welfare Unit Head, Wisdom Krakani, who initially approached her to find out why she was not in school that morning.
That led to the discovery of the wounds on the girl’s body, prompting more questions from the social worker and leading to the arrest of the girl’s 62-year-old aunt, Margaret Gafa.
The woman’s 30-year-old daughter, Eunice Dzifanu, who is a midwife, was also arrested after the child led a team of social workers to a bowl of water into which she (midwife) often held her head.
The two suspects were subsequently handed over to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Ho.
The Mirror visited the unit upon hearing the news and saw the two suspects there.
The old woman, who initially said the pressing iron accidentally fell on the girl, later admitted in the presence of this reporter that she carried out the evil act on the girl.
“Please, you can burn me also with the iron in the same way I burnt her and set me free,” Gafa cried.
She then fell on her knees and pleaded with officers at the DOVVSU to pardon her, turning to this reporter and begging him not to carry the story.
At one stage, she was lying on the floor begging for forgiveness, while her daughter was sitting in a chair shedding tears.
The second suspect, who denied holding the head of the girl (her first cousin) under water, also pleaded with this reporter not to carry the story.
Meanwhile, Mr Krakani told The Mirror on Monday, May 15 that the victim, who now lived with a foster mother, was set to undergo medical examination at the Ho Teaching Hospital as part of investigations into the matter.
The two suspects are now on police enquiry bail, assisting in investigations.