Mother pours boiling water on son for taking her GH¢1 to buy food

An 11-year-old class Two-pupil at Funko in the Ahanta West District has been hospitalised with serious burns after his mother poured boiling water on him for taking her GH¢1 to buy food.

He sustained burns around his genital area, his lower back, thighs, tummy, ribs and chest.

The mother, who was identified as Maame Yaa, 31, is also nursing a nine month-old baby.

She is currently in police custody helping investigations into the incident.

Local mixtures

When the mother realised how severe the situation was, she decided to use local mixtures to treat the burns.

The woman, whose husband was not around at the time of the incident, feared the reaction by the community and failed to send her son to the hospital for treatment.

She kept her son at home from Friday until Sunday when the father returned before taking the boy to the hospital.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Kwesimintsim District Police Commander, Superintendent Peter Lennox Aidoo, said the mother warned the boy not to tell anybody about it.

She said if anyone asked him what happened, he should just say he was playing around the coal pot and fell in the boiling water.

He said the case was reported to the police after the medical assistant on duty realised that it was the boy’s mother who caused it, so after taking care of the boy, he made a report to the police.

The GH¢1

It was learnt that the boy went to his parents’ room and saw the GH¢1 on their bed and used it to buy some food to eat because he thought it was the mother who left it for him.

When the mother returned and realised that the money wasn’t where she left it, she asked her son who told her he used it to buy food because there was no food in the house.

The commander said the woman got angry and asked him to put the finger that he used in picking the money into the water that she had on fire.

When the boy refused, she picked the boiling water and poured it on him.