By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Residents of 3-3 area of Onitsha have rescued a 9-year-old girl who has been repeatedly tormented by her uncle.

The girl with cane injuries on her body was rescued when she went out in the night to fetch water.

It was gathered that the suspect, Hillary Apeh, an indigene of Enugu State allegedly flogged the victim, Chioma Ogbu and scared her body when he returned from the market and discovered there was no water for him to bath with.

The suspect was said to have severally assaulted the victim with marks all over her body.

A resident of the area, who simply identified himself as Statesman, described the act as barbaric and inhumane, saying the matter has been reported to the police.

He said: “We found the girl along the street fetching water at night with a swollen face and bruises all over her body.

“When we asked her what happened, she could not talk because she had lost her voice while crying.

“We quickly reported the matter to the police and the man was summoned together with his wife. He told the police that he beat the girl because he came back from market and there was no water at home for him to bath.

“This man’s first daughter is older than this innocent girl, yet he could not demonstrate his anger on his own daughter for not fetching water.”

Narrating her ordeal, the victim said she was made to live with her uncle because of her mother’s inability to train her in school.

She said: “I never wanted to be a house help but my uncle promised my mother that he will train me in school, a promise he never kept.

“I stay at home while my uncle’s children go to school. I sleep on the kitchen floor while my uncle’s children sleep on the bed in the room. His wife starves me over minor provocation, at times for the whole day.