Friday, September 30, 2016

"I am fed up; but I don’t want to pack out because of my children," victim of domestic violence, says


Her picture went viral some days ago, after one of her neighbors made a public plea that human rights activists should come to her aid. Now, the Lagos State police have launched a manhunt for her husband, Babatunde Igbara, a resident of Agege, after he allegedly battered Gbemisola’s eyes.

Punchng learnt that Babatunde had approached Gbemi on Monday morning, two days after he was released on bail from the Kirikiri prison, demanding if she took the N2,000 he kept in the room. He was said to have accused her of stealing the money and resorted to violence when she refuted the allegation.


Gbemisola, a 38-year-old mother-of-4, said that the 12-year-old marriage had been fraught with quarrels, adding that she decided to endure the assaults because of her children. Her words: “I was very weak that morning because of the stress I passed through to secure his bail from the prison over a land matter.


He woke me up and asked if I took N2,000 from his clothes. I said no. When he continued to accuse me, I asked him why he thought I would steal his money when I spent over N20,000 and borrowed money from friends to facilitate his release. I told him to stop disturbing me. .
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He then started punching me in the face in the presence of our children and my eyes became swollen. My children begged him, but he refused. It was our neighbours who rescued me from him. I am fed up; but I don’t want to pack out because of my children.


He beats me to the point that I won’t be able to open my shop for days. I took a loan of N200,000 to start the business, but it has been difficult for me to repay it because of these troubles. A similar incident happened about a year ago and I reported to the police but my mother-in-law prevailed on me to withdraw the case."


However, Babatunde, who spoke from hiding, said: “I didn’t beat her. It was a lie. It was true that we had a misunderstanding that day but I never used my hands on her. She fell and hit her face on an object. Our families have been trying to resolve it."

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