Couple Sentenced To Prison After Using Hot Pressing Iron And Inflicting Several Torture On Their House Help

Jude Ozuogu, a Central Bank of Nigeria employee, and his wife, Ifeoma Ozuogu, were both sentenced to 13 years in prison by Justice A. C. Ogbuabor of an Enugu State High Court for child abuse.

The couple were detained by the state police in July 2020 for abusing their 10-year-old maid, Nneoma Nnadi.

Neighbours alleged the two had severely tortured the victim after they claimed she caused their child to fall to the ground at their home in Aku, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State.

Nnadi was allegedly carrying her mistress’s baby to soothe her to sleep around midnight when the child accidentally fell to the ground

The child was unharmed physically and internally, but the parents allegedly came down hard on the maid as a result of the incident, blistering her body with a hot pressing iron and drilling a hole in her head.

They also placed pepper inside the young girl’s vagina and locked her inside a toilet for refusing to wash plates.

After hearing the girl’s screams, the neighbours had to step in to save her and take her to the hospital for treatment.

The pair were detained after the police were contacted, and they were charged with three offences bordering on inflicting grievous harm, administering noxious or piousness substance, and employment of a child as a domestic worker before Justice A. C. Ogbuabor of State High Court 10.

The court found Jude Ozuogu and Ifeoma Ozuogu guilty after rendering judgment in the case with case number HE/121c/2020 between the State (plaintiff/applicant) and the two defendants.

The court sentenced the pair to 13 years in prison each, condemning the treatment given to the 10-year-old child.

The court gave them a three-year prison term for count one, which involved inflicting grievous harm.

The couple received a five-year prison sentence on count two for administering a poison or noxious substance, and a five-year prison sentence on count three for hiring a child as a domestic worker.

The length of time the offenders had been held in custody before their arrest, however, will not be counted, the court ruled.

“All sentences shall run concurrently,” the judge said.