Why we put our dead child in sack and threw her into canal

The police on Tuesday arraigned a 49-year-old man before a Chief Magistrate Court on Ebutte Meta, Lagos, for disposing the remains of his four-year-old daughter into a canal

Adekunle Adewusi, who lives at Folorunsho Kuku Street, Opebi, Ikeja, was alleged to have committed the act on February 7 at his residence.

The police prosecutor, Kehinde Omisakin, said the accused, a painter, had nine children with his wife whom he married in 1999.

Ms. Omisakin said the accused lives close to the canal, and his wife, who is still at large, works as a cleaner to augment the family’s income.

The accused said his deceased daughter, Rachel, had sustained an injury while playing with other children.

“I wasn’t aware she fell,” he said.

“She was telling me and the mother that the place where she goes to play, a girl called her by her name Rachael, pushed her into the canal and she hit her stomach on a sharp object.

“We carried her to a nurse who advised us to take her to a General hospital but because there was no money I bought her blood tonic syrup.

“She is my sixth child and we don’t have any picture of her. When she died there was no money to take her to the mortuary and there was no money to buy land and bury her.

“So that’s why my wife and I decided to put her corpse into a sack bag and kept her body beside the canal where we lived. Which we later throw her inside the canal at Monkey Village Opebi, Ikeja Lagos.”

The police said the offence contravened sections 411 and 165 (a) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The Magistrate, T.A Elias, said the accused be remanded at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, and adjourned till February 27 for him to appear with his wife and children.