A Ogun-based landlord identified as Michael, poured hot water on his 11-year-old daughter, Princess, at their residence in Mowe, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.
Fuming at the incident, the sister of a tenant in the house, who gave her name as Ejiro, stated that her sibling had planned to leave the apartment which she rented.
According to Ejiro, her sister was no longer comfortable in the house due to the fear of being beaten by the landlord who had allegedly made it a habit to beat the girl and her mother when she (the mother) was still with the man.
Her words: “I am here to see my sister at Baba Ticket area, Oniru Phase 3, Mowe. My sister told me her landlord beats the daughter of his estranged wife. I thought it was a normal beating, but last Thursday, I heard the sound of someone throwing punches at somebody.
“I asked who was being punched. A neighbour told me it was the landlord punching his daughter. When we rushed there, we saw that he held a whip and was beating her. When I asked him why he was beating her, he said the girl refused to go to school.
“We begged him to stop and he did. On Friday morning, he still beat the girl. My sister has said she is planning to pack out of the apartment because the landlord may descend on his tenants too one day and she may be a victim.
“This morning (Monday) , I saw injuries on the girl’s body. I was so scared. He had poured hot water on the girl’s body on Saturday. The girl’s brother told us that when they were hungry, they told the man, and he in turn asked the girl to put water on the stove.
“Then he began beating her and when the water was hot, he poured it on her body. We heard her screams that night.”
She added that there was also a day the man beat the girl for three hours because she ate bread.
When contacted, Princess’ mother, Grace Ojile said the man had always beat the little girl.
“He poured hot water on her body. If you see the back, it’s all burnt. He inflicted injury on her head last week, I just heard that. I’m with her at the hospital,” a worried Ojile said.
Princess, who spoke from the hospital bed, said her dad poured the water on her after boiling it.