A 15-year-old jealous housewife, Baraatu Rabiu, has
been arrested by the Niger State Police Command
for allegedly severing the genitals of a two-month-
old baby boy belonging to the first wife of her
husband.
been arrested by the Niger State Police Command
for allegedly severing the genitals of a two-month-
old baby boy belonging to the first wife of her
husband.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 10:00 p.m
last Tuesday at Kuta community in Shiroro Local
Government Area of the state.
The suspect, who is the second wife of Mallam
Rabiu (surname withheld), the father of the
baby, was said to have married the teenager about
four months ago because his first wife could not
bear him children almost eight years after their
marriage.
Crime Reports gathered that the man married the
suspect following pressures on him to take another
wife, but a few months into his new relationship, the
first wife conceived, and after the second wife (the
suspect) moved in, the first wife delivered a baby
boy.
The suspect reportedly betrayed no ill-feelings
towards the new born child, and was even said to
have joined both her husband and the senior wife in
playing with the baby as well as carrying him
whenever the opportunity came her way.
A source at the homicide section of the State
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence
Department (SCIID) told Crime Reports that on the
fateful day, the unsuspecting mother gave the
suspect her baby to hold when he slept, so that she
could attend to some domestic issues.
The source added that when the suspect noticed
that baby’s mother was busy and no longer paying
attention, she quickly looked for a sharp knife
within the house and quietly took the baby to the
backyard where she cut off both his penis and
testicles, resulting in a sharp cry coming from the
baby.
“As soon as Baraatu carried out the act, she left
the baby to cry his heart out while writhing in
excruciating pains and disappeared into the bush
behind the house,” said the source.
Crime Reports further gathered that when the baby’s
mother got to the spot where her child was crying,
she was so shocked that she fainted immediately.
Neighbours were said to have organised a search
party, fishing out the suspect from where she hid,
while the police who had been alerted came and
whisked off the housewife to the police station.
The baby was also rushed to the Ibrahim Babangida
Specialist Hospital for admission at the intensive
care unit and had been receiving treatment since
then.
In an interview with Crime Reports on Friday, June
24, after the suspect was paraded at the state
police command headquarters in Minna, she
confessed to the crime, but insisted that she was
under the influence of some forces whom she
claimed covered her face with a veil and led her to
commit the crime.
Baraatu stated that prior to the time she committed
the crime, she had no crisis with either her husband
or the older wife, saying, “the only favour I want
the police to do for me now is to bring my husband
here (police headquarters) and my senior wife
because I have something to tell them”.
When asked to disclose what she intended to tell
her husband and the aggrieved mother, she refused
to utter a word as she did not betray emotions
while the interview lasted.
The state command’s Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident,
adding that the baby was responding to treatment.
But he refused to speak on the exact medical
condition of the boy.
Elkana disclosed that the suspect would soon be
arraigned in court at the conclusion of investigation
of the case.
