By Tokpa Tarnue- tarnue82@gmail.com
Voinjama, Liberia- A latest case of the rising tide of domestic violence around Liberia has taken place, with the palms of two kids being allegedly burnt by their guardian for stealing food in the home.
Children pinching on food, especially in homes where a square meal is not hard to come by, is a common place in most African settings.
Most adults are quite aware of the root causes of such practices and rarely severely punish children found to engage in them for the simple reason that in general, a well fed child would never contemplate stealing food.
Such reasoning was never considered in the case of two minors in the Kpadeh Segbe Village near Lofa’s provincial capital, Voinjama, currently suffering excruciating pains after their aunt burnt their palms with fire for reportedly stealing fish.
Domowah Boima is said to have meted the cruel treatment about two weeks ago to little Samuel Kemah, 6 and Darius Passaway, 9.
Our reporter discovered the incident when he spotted the two kids during a recent visit to the village which is ten minutes drive away from the city. The children had denied eating the fried fish in question for which they suffered the maltreatment, and pleaded not to be punished.
A close relative of the kids who chose not to be named said the kids were kept in door after being tortured by their aunty for days without any proper treatment.
Human Rights institutions in the county have condemned the act perpetrated by Domowah Boima against her sister’s children and are calling for her immediate arrest and prosecution.
The victims now face difficulties using the affected hands to do anything
Abuses and violence against children has been prevalent in recent years, with several of them being kept out school and used as bread winners and taking the risk of selling between cars, and others being victims of child trafficking and sexual abuse.
Section 21.1 and 2 of the Liberian Children’s Law States that: (Every child shall have the right to be protected.
Under the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, children are entitled to protection. “In 1959 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which defines children’s rights to protection, education, health care, shelter and good nutrition. “