A 65-year-old man, Mr. Chuks Emele, has been arrested for allegedly defiling an eight-year-old boy at Umunze in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Emele, however, blamed his action on the devil.
The arrest followed a letter by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, which was submitted to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Umunze, following a complaint by the victim’s mother.
The Commission’s letter, signed by its Coordinator, Mrs Nkechi Ugwuanyi, and made available to reporters, said the act violated section 3 sub sections 1, 2 and 3 of the State Violence Against Persons Prohibition, VAPP, Law, 2017.
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.
According to her, the commission’s interest was to ensure proper treatment of the victim of the likely various medical complications he might have suffered, in addition to seeing that justice would have been served.
She said: “Defiling a minor of eight years is not only against the law, but a criminal offence. The boy, as we learned, 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.”
While calling on relevant bodies to come to the victim’s aid, the Coordinator pleaded the protection of his identity to avoid worsening the psychological effects of the incident on him.
Narrating her son’s ordeal in a telephone interview, the mother of the victim (name withheld) prayed for the law to take its course since the violator had refused to do the needful despite the community’s interventions.
“After the incident, my son had protruded anus. He lost lots of blood. He is still in the hospital because he runs high temperature. All I want is justice for my son,” she said.
The medical doctor treating the victim confirmed that there was penetration into the boy’s anus, adding that he had been taken through HIV test, among other examinations.
‘I don’t know what came over me’
The suspect, a father of two, blamed the devil for the act, even as he 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.
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for the state, Mr. Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident, saying that investigation had commenced.
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