13-Year-Old Boy Lands in Hospital With Ruptured Intestines On Birthday After Dad’s Brutal Assault

13-year-old Somtochukwu Ajebughobi was on his birthday, November 2, 2015, rushed to the Reginal Mundi Catholic Hospital, Mushin Lagos, after brutal assaults from his dad nearly sent him to an early grave. Doctors subsequently diagnosed he had sustained an injury that ruptured his intestine.

According to Punch, this internal injury along with old scars and fresh injuries on the boy’s body made the doctor attending to him suspect child abuse but when he was asked how he sustained the injury, he said it was from school. That answer, however, turned out to be what his parents had coached him to say.

The doctor  referred the child for further tests apart from the initial scan, which had shown the internal injuries. But the parents allegedly came back to the hospital without carrying out the second test. When the angry doctor insisted they had to present a police report if they refused to say the truth about what happened to the boy, they opened up.

Somtochukwu’s mother, Priscilla, told the doctor that the boy was kicked in the stomach when her husband, Sunny, was beating him brutally. The boy was later referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, for further treatment.

In agony, Somtochukwu explained on his hospital bed that his father brutally assaulted him because he decided to visit his aunt, whom his father had warned him and his older siblings never to visit.

He said,

“My mummy’s sister said she would buy a new pair of slippers for me and I went there to collect it on my birthday. My daddy never wants us to see her even though she has been taking care of us since we were small.

When my daddy saw me with the slippers and knew she bought the slippers for me, he started beating me. He locked me up in a room and beat me. He kicked me in the stomach many times before he left me there.”

Priscilla, who has five children, of whom Somtochukwu is the youngest, said she was away in church when the beating took place. Asked about the different scars on her son’s body, she admitted her husband had in the past beaten the boy brutally, adding, “I am not trying to cover up for my husband. I would accept even if he has to be locked up for some days and made to sign an undertaking not to beat the children anymore.”

When his dad, Sunny was contacted, sounding remorseful, he said, “I did not expect he would be injured that much. What happened was a big mistake on my part. I blame myself for whatever has happened. He is very troublesome but I know nobody wants to hear that now. He wanted to jump out of the window and with annoyance, I drew him back. I think my leg must have kicked him in the process. We rushed him immediately to the hospital.”

Director of the Esther Child Rights Foundation, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, whose foundation was briefed about the boy’s plight by officials of the hospital, said the boy could have died simply because his mother was covering up for his father despite past brutal beatings.

She said, “Parents should not pretend they do not know they cannot just treat their children like animals. The protection of children against abuse and domestic torture is important. In this case, we want to ensure that this child is protected. The commission would determine the next line of action but the welfare of the child is very important at this point.”

The case has not been reported to the police but Ogwu said her foundation was taking up the case with the National Human Rights Commission.