A 25-year-old aunt has been arraigned before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly assaulting her seven-year-old niece with a red-hot iron for allegedly stealing chewing gum from a neighbour.

WuzupNaija gathered that Loveth Ozoihu beat and blistered the buttocks of her niece with the hot iron.

Ozoihu, who was arraigned in an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, however, denied the offence.

The defendant, who is facing a charge of assault, occasioning harm, was granted bail in the sum of N200, 000 by the Chief Magistrate, Mrs Olufunke Sule-Amzat.

Sule-Amzat ordered the defendant to provide two responsible sureties as part of the bail conditions.

She said that the sureties must be gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payments to the Lagos State Government; and adjourned the case until March 7, for trial.

Ozoihu, a resident of Josiah Aina Street, Alakuko, a suburb of Lagos, reportedly beat her seven-year-old niece to a pulp, then burnt her with a red-hot knife from a cooking gas fire.

The defendant, according to the Police Prosecutor, Insp. Benson Emuerhi, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Feb. 2, at her residence.

“The defendant was, however, arrested by the police at Alakuko Division, following a tip-off from a neighbour, one Nmasi Okwudili, that they should rescue the victim, who was being abused by her aunt,” Emuerhi said.

He said that the defendant beat the victim and used a red-hot knife to burn her buttocks for allegedly stealing her neighbour’s chewing gum.

Emuerhi said that the defendant had earlier used a wire to beat the victim for taking fish from her stock and eating without her knowledge.

The offence, he said, contravened Section 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

The section prescribes a two-year prison term for offenders.

(NAN)