A 36-year-old woman, Mrs. Bosede Oyetunde, has been sentenced to one-month imprisonment by a family court sitting in Oke Eda, Akure, Ondo State, for dumping her daughter’s day-old baby boy inside the bush.
Oyetunde said she threw away the newborn because the family had no money to take care of him.
The incident happened in Omotoso town, Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the woman committed the offence on July 13, 2017.
Men of the Igbotako Division of Ondo State Police Command arrested the accused and her daughter, Opeyemi Isaac, who is the mother of the baby, a day after they committed the offence.
The duo, who were arraigned on two-count of felony and attempted murder, were said to have wrapped the baby in a nylon bag and threw him into the bush.
The baby survived the incident and is said to be currently in the custody of Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.
According to the charge, the offence committed contravened sections 16 and 320(2) of the criminal Code Cap 37, Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 2006.
The accused persons pleaded guilty to the charges. Oyetunde said it was the devil that instigated her to commit the crime.
In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Edwin, sentenced the 36-year-old grandmother to one-month imprisonment.
She also ordered the convict to report at Igbotako Police Station to render two-month community service after the completion of her jail term.
The magistrate also ruled that the 20-year-old mother of the baby, Opeyemi, should breastfeed the baby in Ondo State Children’s Home under the supervision of the police for a month.
Opeyemi, while speaking with journalists after the court session, narrated that it was her mother that assisted her to deliver the baby at home, after which she became unconscious.
She said, “After I regained my consciousness, I asked my mother about my baby, and she told me that she had thrown him away because he did not cry after delivery.
“I believed her because there was nothing I could do.” From Punch.