Woman arrested for pouring hot water on her niece

A court in Ghana has fined a Nigerian woman, Chinyere Oburoh
the sum of GH¢3,600 in place of a year’s jail term for causing
harm to her 10-year-old niece.
According to the prosecuting counsel Sarah Acquah, she said
at about 9:00am on May 19, 2011, the Domestic Violence and
Victims’ Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Tesano Police had
information from an unknown caller that a Nigerian schoolgirl
schooling at New Jerusalem Preparatory School was burned
with hot water by the aunt. The aunt kept her indoors and did
not take her to the hospital for treatment.
Based on the tipoff, she said the police proceeded to the
school where they took the girl (name withheld), who had
sustained severe burns at her back and other parts of the
body.
ASP Acquah stated that upon further investigations by the
Tesano DOVVSU unit, the victim revealed that she was asked
to soak Chinyere’s children’s clothes in a basin but she was
slow in doing that.
According to prosecution, Chinyere became angry and slapped
her and warned to slap her again, but the victim dodged.
This, the ASP Acquah noted, infuriated the accused who
poured hot water which was meant for ‘Eba’ on the girl,