A 65-year-old man, Chuks Emele, is currently in police net for allegedly defiling an eight-year-old boy at Umunze, Orumba South local government area of Anambra state.
Emele was arrested on Thursday last week following a complaint submitted to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Umunze by the state’s office of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after receiving same report from the victim’s parent.
The Commission in the letter, signed by its state coordinator, Mrs Nkechi Ugwuanyi, which was made available to Blueprint, argued that the act violates section 3 sub-sections 1, 2 and 3 of the State Violence Against Persons Prohibition, (VAPP), Law 2017.
Mrs Ugwuanyi, who described the act as unlawful, added in an interview that “ Defiling a minor of eight years is a criminal offence. The boy as we learnt had been sick since the incident. The community stakeholders stepped in but he did not cooperate with them. That’s how the case got to the Commission.
“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. We are calling on relevant bodies to come to the aid of the poor boy. However, they should protect his identity in all interventions to avoid worsening the psychological effects of the incident on him.”
Reacting in a telephone interview, mother of the victim, Mrs Ogechi Arinze, recounted the ordeal of her son since the unfortunate incident occurred and appealed for the law to take its course since the violator had refused to do the needful despite the community interventions.
“After the incident, my son had protruded anus. He lost a lot of blood had gone through blood infusion. He is still in the hospital because he runs high temperature. All I want is justice for my son,” she stated.
The medical doctor, who is treating the victim, confirmed that there was penetration into the anus of the boy, adding that he would be taken through HIV test, among other examinations.
But responding, the suspect, Mr Chuks Emele, admitted to the act, but averred that “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. There was no blood as the mother claimed. I regret doing that to the small boy. It was the devil”.
However, several phone calls and Whatsapp messages sent in to the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State command, Mr Tochukwu Ikenga, to confirm the report had not been responded to as at press time.
