35 year old Massah Alpha of Saama village in the Small Bo Chiefdom in the Kenema district has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for burning the hand of her ward who stole cassava.
Massah Alpha was sentenced when she made her last appearance before Presiding Magistrate Tonia Mbawa in the magistrate court in Kenema on the charge of cruelty to children contrary to section 18 of the offences against the person Act of 1861.
According to the prosecutor Inspector Patrick Smart, the victim is a daughter of the accused’s elder brother.
The child has stayed with the accused for three years, and on that fateful day one of the daughters in the house Wuya cooked some cassava for their daily consumption but the victim reportedly stole the cassava.
When the accused realized that the victim had stolen some of the cooked cassava, she then got hold of her, poured some kerosene on her hand and set it on fire, saying that the child is always involved in theft acts and that she has reached her limit.
Other members in the village came to the rescue of the child and took her to the police at Blama. The accused was then sentenced to eight years imprisonment.