By Daniel D.
The wife of the Pastor of Presbyterian Church Ntarikon in Bamenda and her cousin are pleading for mercy after conspiring to torture an eight-year-old girl using objects, including an electrical iron.
A video circulating on WhatsApp shows the child with disturbing bruises and boils on her body and feet.
The child’s mother, Cynthia, who lives in Penja, Litoral Region, received a call from neighbors in Bamenda informing her of the incident.
She immediately rushed to Bamenda upon seeing the video.
“On Wednesday, somebody called me and asked if I was Madam Cynthia. They asked who my child was living with in Bamenda. I said my cousin, though my elder sister is there too. They sent me a picture of the child who had been asked to fetch water. Her feet are damaged,” Cynthia recounted.
According to Cynthia, her daughter, who was living with her cousin, was accused of stealing money during a birthday party.
Upon returning home and not finding the money, her cousin and elder sister began accusing and beating the child.
The abuse lasted for two days, during which the girl was tied up and locked in the house. Cynthia’s sister, the wife of the PCC Pastor, joined in the abuse, burning the child’s fingers with a lighter to force a confession.
“When I got to Bamenda, neighbours explained to me that my daughter, my cousin, and my elder sister went for a birthday, and they carried money and put it in the baby diaper’s bag. But upon return, the money was not seen, and they started accusing my daughter and beating her. She was beaten for two days, tightened with robes, and locked in the house. My cousin, after beating my daughter, called my sister from Ntarikon, the wife of the PCC pastor who came, and they continued beating and burning her fingers with a lighter while forcing her to admit taking the money,” Cynthia narrated.
While crying, Cynthia narrated how her sister and cousin used a hot electric iron to burn her daughter’s feet such that she could not walk.
“You burned my child for two days, locked her in the house, and left without giving her food,” Cynthia cried. The child, who now struggles to walk, was diagnosed by the hospital with severe burns that will take time to heal.
Cynthia reported the issue to a human rights lawyer, who is pursuing the matter in court.
In an audio message on WhatsApp, the wife of the PCC Pastor is heard pleading for mercy, admitting they had learned their lesson.
However, the lawyer insists that jail time is the only way for them to show genuine remorse.
The human rights lawyer said no court can excuse them for the acts committed against the eight-year-old.
