Aunt burns boy, 12, for stealing GHS20

A 12-year-old boy has been left bedridden after his aunt dipped his fingers into a pot of baked sand and stones, and also poured the entire hot substance on him as punishment for theft.

The little boy was accused of stealing GHS20 from a neighbour to buy food.

The incident happened last week at Asawase, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

Class News’ Ashanti regional correspondent Hafiz Tijani, who spoke to eyewitnesses, said the boy stole the amount and returned a change of GHS10. This, however, angered his aunt.

With the support of the victim’s mother, the aunt put a pot of sand and stones on fire and dipped both hands of the boy into the burning pot.

Eyewitnesses said she even threatened dipping his head into the pot and poured the hot substance on the boy’s body.

According to them, the victim’s mother looked on unconcerned when her son was being tortured. Angry residents lodged a complaint at the Asawase police station.

Hafiz Tijani, who visited the victim’s house, said the family had withdrawn the case from the police for settlement at home, while they begged him to drop the story and prevented him from taking pictures of the boy.

The Asawase police, however, said they will only comment after they receive an update on the investigation from the officer assigned to the case.