Photo: Cruel Father Flogs 14-month-old Baby Leaving 14 Marks On Her Back

An estranged 22-year-old housewife in Bauchi State, Huwaila Abdulahi, has dragged her husband before the Bauchi State Shariah Commission over whip-like lacerations noticed on her 14-month-old daughter’s back.
Huwaila, who has been separated from her husband, has asked the Commission to investigate and unravel the mystery behind the strange marks all over the back of her 14 months old daughter, as the 14 marks were not there when the little girl was taken to her father to spend some time with him.
Ibrahim Haladu is being accused of carrying out a ritual on his child. He has been invited by the Commission to explain the strange marks on his daughter’s back. But, as crazy as it sounds, he insists that he only flogged his 14-month-old daughter with the cord of his handset charger because she was disturbing him from watching his favourite satellite television programme. He denied that the marks on his daughter’s back were for ritual purposes.
His claims however were unconvincing as many who saw his daughter’s back insisted the marks were carefully incised.

Baby Sahura with strange marks on her back

Explaining how his daughter got the marks, Ibrahim said: “I was watching an Arab channel but she would not let me be with her cries. I was enjoying the programme, but her cries kept distracting me. I was provoked so I brought out my ‘charger phone wire’ and flogged her. My first wife Aisha who heard her cries came out and was shouting at me to stop. She was even angry and rebuked me for beating her like that. I regret my action.
“The marks on my daughter’s body is not for ritual purposes as wrongly insinuated by some people. I can never use my child for ritual. It is unfortunate that my wife had to drag me to the Sharia Commission because she has a grouse against me. We have been having problems with her, but that is between us. Why should I go to the extent of using my child for ritual? I only beat her as a father. I don’t belong to any cult or secret society”.

Some residents of the Tirwun, a suburb of Bauchi, where Ibrahim allegedly carried out the beating of his baby were shocked to see Sahura with the 14 strange marks on her back. They called for thorough investigation into the case so as to unravel the motive behind his action, and asked for justice to be done.
His estranged wife Huwaila, mother of the little girl, who believes there is no iota of truth in her husband’s explanation is pleading with the commission to thoroughly investigate the matter.
The couple were said to be having problems in their marriage, making Ibrahim move to his house in Tirwin with his first wife, Aisha leaving his second wife, Huweila with his parents. Huwaila said her husband occasionally comes to pick Sahura to spend some time with him since they were not living together.
According to her, “My husband, his first wife and I lived with his parents at Bakin Kura before he moved with his first wife to Tirwun, leaving me and my daughter Sahura behind.
“But he occasionally comes to take the baby to spend some time with him in his new place and bring her back. One day he sent one Ibrahim to come and bring Sahura; this was around one in the afternoon. But when they brought back my daughter, I noticed something unusual about her because she kept crying and I wondered what was wrong with her.
“When I checked her body, I saw some strange marks all over her back”. Huwaila said she quickly rushed to the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission to lodge a complaint after she confronted her husband who claimed he only flogged Sahura because she was disturbing him with her cries.
The permanent Commissioner II of the State Shari’ah Commission, Jibril Hassan, confirmed that Huwaila lodged a complaint prompting the commission to summon the husband, adding that the commission was investigating the issue and would charge the father of the girl to court at the appropriate time. He also said that if found guilty of the accusations leveled against him, the accused would be charged to court.