A 58-year-old mother, Eucharia Okpalannadi, whose three-year-old daughter was reportedly defiled by her father has called on relevant authorities to assist her in ensuring that she gets justice for the child.
Eucharia also alleged a threat to life by her husband, Magnus Okpalannadi, for exposing his suspected defilement of their daughter in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The mother, a native of Amesi in Aguata Local Government Area of the state said she got married to Magnus Okpalannadi who hails from Achina in the same LGA about 26 years ago.
She narrated her ordeal before the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, in Awka, on Saturday.
She said, “We have five children, four girls and one boy who happens to be the twin to the defiled child. I had dismissed my daughter’s initial complaints of sexual abuse by the father as a mere joke until the baby became persistent.
“The three-year-old daughter had complained that her daddy had been touching her private parts. Initially, I thought it was a joke and rebuked her to stop such an expensive joke until I noticed that the child’s private parts were not in good shape.
“After I concluded my observations, I confronted my husband who denied the accusation.”
Not satisfied with the response from the husband, she said she took the child to a hospital in Onitsha where the doctor confirmed that the three-year-old baby had been badly defiled already.
Angered by the development and concerns from close friends and relatives she shared the issues with, Mrs Okpalannadi said she decided to make the matter open so that government and private individuals could help her obtain justice for the child.
She decried that her life had been in danger since after the exposure describing her husband as a person who would go all out to do anything to her and the baby because of the exposure.
The embattled mother said she wanted her husband arrested and prosecuted before he killed her, the daughter and himself.
She also cautioned persons who were using the matter to score cheap financial gains to desist as she was being taken good care of alongside her twin by the Anambra State Government through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Obinabo, noted that the incident was a serious and sensitive issue that had to do with security, saying, “It is not proper for some people who are just out to enrich their pockets without considering the effect of their unconfirmed publications to the victims and security investigation.”
Obinabo noted that though the suspect was still at large, the Anambra State Government would not rest until the culprit was apprehended and justice served to those who deserve it.
She described the incident as terrible and unfortunate, assuring the public that efforts were on to apprehend the fleeing father.
(Punch)
