A seamstress in Osun State known as Iya Abdullahi allegedly attacked a teenage girl with a hot pressing iron for reportedly complaining about a dress the victim had given her to sew.
The assault occurred on Wednesday at the seamstress’s shop in the Obelawo Area of Osogbo after the teenager (name withheld) reportedly visited the shop to return her wrongly made clothing.
Narrating her ordeal, the teenager, who had been rushed to a private hospital for treatment, displayed the injuries she sustained from the hot iron on her body and sought justice.
She said she had taken a piece of cloth to Iya Abdullahi to sew for her, and after discovering that the dress was too short for her to wear, she returned it.
“Instead of adjusting the dress, Iya Abdullahi started raining curses on me. I rebuked her, and she started flogging me with a stick. I struggled to dispossess her of the cane. Immediately, she went into her shop and took a hot pressing iron and used it to press my body in different places,” she lamented in pain,” the victim narrated.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization in the state, Value Female Network, has demanded justice for the 17-year-old survivor, wondering how “something that began as a minor dispute over a clothing issue escalated into a violent attack on the minor.”
In a detailed report of the incident made available to The Guardian in Osogbo and also forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for action, the Executive Director of VFN, Dr. Costly Aderibigbe-Saba, said, “The case further involves allegations of abuse of authority by the tailor’s husband, a police officer, who is reportedly trying to suppress the matter.
“The 17-year-old girl had given her cloth to a local tailor for sewing. Upon receiving the finished outfit, she found it too small and returned it for necessary adjustments. A minor disagreement followed this request. The tailor, rather than addressing the complaint, began laying curses on the girl.
“In an attempt to defend herself verbally, the girl responded, which further enraged the tailor. The tailor then physically assaulted the girl and went as far as using a hot pressing iron to burn multiple areas on her body, causing severe injuries.
Following the brutal attack, the girl was rushed to Olorungbebe Medical Center, Zone B, Palace Road Community, Ido-Osun, Osun State, for urgent medical attention. The tailor’s husband, a police officer, has reportedly intervened to suppress the case and prevent it from being reported or investigated properly. There are strong allegations that he is using his position and influence in the police force to shield his wife from justice.”
Aderibigbe-Saba explained the background of the alleged assault, saying that Aduke Obelawo, a prominent gender rights advocate, reported the matter to the organisation.
It was gathered that the matter has been reported to the command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
When contacted by the publication, Iya Abdullahi explained that the teenager had abused her first, stepped on the clothes she was selling, and that both of them got injured while dragging the hot pressing iron.
“She (survivor) brought a pair of trousers to me through a boy. She told the boy to tell me that the cloth belonged to the boy’s mother, a claim that was later found to be lies. Having realized that her lies were busted, she started abusing me,” she said.
“She came to my shop to scatter my clothes and even stepped on them. We started fighting, and she took the pressing iron, and I started struggling it with her; that was how she got the bruises, and I also got injured on my finger. Her mother brought Civil Defence officers, and my husband, who is a police officer, also intervened.”
Meanwhile, the NGO on Thursday revealed that the tailor had brought policemen from Dugbe Police Station in Osogbo to arrest and detain the victim’s mother.
She was said to be acting on the influence of her husband, who is a police officer in the state.
