A middle-aged woman, simply identified as Mrs. Henry, has inflicted injuries on her housemaid, following the young girl’s alleged refusal to carry out her orders.
Our correspondent gathered that Mrs. Henry of No. 3, Olugbenga Faseun Close, Iju Agege area of Lagos State had asked her maid, a 14-year-old girl, simply identified as Faith, to go and have her haircut, but the girl declined the order.
It was learnt that Mrs. Henry, who was infuriated by her maid’s refusal to do as she had said, pounced on the teenager.
Henry allegedly severely beat the maid, leaving her with many injuries.
Faith, it was gathered, had since left home on the account of the alleged ill-treatment.
But it was also learnt that, Henry, who had formed the habit of physically abusing Faith, through frequent punishments and other forms of beatings, usually starved the girl.
Speaking to our correspondent, a resident, Mrs. Yinka Akinsowon, who had reported the case to social workers for necessary actions, said, “Mrs. Henry is fond of beating the girl. I am not saying the girl does not do wrong at all. At least, on some occasions, she must have done very badly deserving to be dealt with. But her madam is always beating her. There is hardly a day she is not beaten.
“We are neighbours; our apartments are beside each other. So I know what I am saying. For me, if she is not a good housemaid, she should be returned to her people or where ever she was brought from, instead of keeping her with you and inflicting pains on her.
“On many occasions, I have seen her with bruises, which are obviously from beatings. And I even learnt she starves her a lot.”
Another resident and a carpenter within the neighbourhood, who simply gave his name as Kareem, said “That woman (Mrs. Henry) is wicked. She always beat the girl. At some point, I wanted to challenge her but my wife restrained me.
“I hear the girl has run away from home.”
Investigations by our correspondent further revealed that, following the disappearance of her maid, Henry got the police to arrest another neighbour’s househelp, Chiamaka, 25, who she accused of being aware of the whereabouts of Faith, her runaway maid.
She said both maids were friends, adding that Faith must have told Chiamaka about her movement.
The 25-year-old house help has since Saturday, January 13, been detained at the Pen Cinema Police Division, Agege, and has not been released as at the time of filing this report.
Our correspondent gathered that Chiamaka’s boss, Mrs. Bola Okoromadu, had been making efforts to bail her maid from the police.
“A lawyer said I should bring N25,000 to help get Chiamaka out. That is what I have been going about for,” she said.
Speaking on how her house help was arrested, she said, “That Saturday evening, I was at home when Mrs. Henry came to ask for Chiamaka. I told her she was not around, because she goes to her place every Saturday and returns on Sundays.
Okoromadu said, “I asked what the matter was, but she said I should not worry.
“When Chiamaka came, I asked her why Mrs. Henry was looking for her because I have always known Mrs. Henry to be troublesome. My maid told me that she saw Faith the previous week when she wanted to go and refill gas, crying with bruises all over her body and she asked her what the problem was and she said her madam beat
her.
“Chiamaka said she even wanted to go and beg her boss, but Faith said she shouldn’t worry. And that was the last time she saw her. It was that week that the police from Pen Cinema invited my maid to their station for questioning on Faith’s whereabouts. And since then she has been detained.”
Efforts to reach Henry on the issue was abortive as her apartment was under lock and key when our correspondent visited.
