By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
The 36-year-old mother-of-four, Mrs Opeyemi Omoyemi, who inflicted injuries on her 12-year-old houseboy, Joel Sunday, in Ondo State, for stealing meat, has been jailed.
She’s to spend four and a half years in prison with hard labour as a deterrent to others whose pastime is to brutalize minors.
While she got three and a half years imprisonment for causing grievous harm, she also bagged one-year imprisonment on violence against another person, among others.
The sentencing of Omoyemi was sequel to her arraignment before a Magistrate Court sitting in Akure on a five-count charge.
Stonix News had reported that the defendant had used a stick and razor blade to inflict multiple injuries on the body of the house help whom she accused of stealing pieces of meat from her pot of soup.
She was said to have committed the offence on February 6, 2022, at her residence located at Idi-Mango, Adewale axis of Ondo road, Akure.
During the trial, the Prosecution Counsel, ASP Emmanuel Tanimowo applied for the withdrawal of count-four charge which was granted by the Magistrate, Mrs O.A Edwin.
However, the Defense Counsel, Folusho Kayode, prayed the court to be lenient with Omoyemi while passing the sentence, saying she was a first time offender.
He also informed the court that Omoyemi, a widow and mother of four little children, had been the one responsible for the welfare of the victim.
“The court should be lenient in passing sentence on the defendant. The prayer for leniency is that the defendant has been the one solely responsible for the wellbeing and education of the 12-year-old Sunday. She has been doing this dutifully for the past four years since the death of her husband.
“The defendant has kids and they have been crying since the incident happened as they could not see their mother.
“The defendant is a first offender and has never been arrested for any inhuman behavior. The court should graciously pass the sentence,” he prayed.
In her judgement, Magistrate O. A.Edwin, said the sentence would run concurrently, and said “I know that the defendant is a first time offender but the facts of the offences are not only an abuse on the victim but an offence against public policy.
“The sentence must therefore want to deter others and also ensure that justice is done to the victim.”
The magistrate also adjourned the case to April 13, 2022 for trial in count-three of the charge bordering on trafficking in persons which the defendant had pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, the wife of Ondo State governor, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, has hailed the judiciary over the judgement, with a pledge to continue to throw her weight behind the advocacy for the protection of the rights of women and children.
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