A mother of six from Guru village in outskirt of Bauchi, Bauchi State has confessed that she threw her one day old infant into the soakaway shortly after delivering her at home because of hardship. Juliana James, an indigene of Shendan Local Government Area of Plateau State, wept profusely as she spoke with journalists at the police Command headquarters in Bauchi, saying she loved her child. The housewife who lives with her husband James and her six children (five girls and a boy) in a one room apartment claimed that things were so rough for her family that she decided that the way out was to sacrifice the new born. “Things are hard. My husband has no job. He had an accident three months ago. He is still in the hospital and the situation became worse for us. We don’t see food to eat. We were dying of starvation. I delivered at home and threw the baby into the toilet because I didn’t know how we are going to take care of it. I didn’t tell my husband, “ she narrated amidst sobs. Juliana who claimed that the accident rendered her husband impotent three months ago, explained that when the cry of the baby in the soak away became too unbearable she changed her mind and , ran to her neighbours and told them everything. The baby girl was rescued alive and taken to the Abubakar Tafawa University Teaching Hospital where she is currently receiving medical attention. A source close to the woman claimed that Juliana seemed to be depressed due to hardship. “She was a hardworking mother and House wife who fried kwosai (bean-cake in the neighbourhood but for some time now during her pregnancy she had not been coming out. May be the recession took its toll on her,” the source who pleaded anonymity said. Juliana was subsequently arrested by the police and is currently being remanded at the police station. The Commissioner of police Zaki Ahmed who paraded the suspect for child abandonment along with other suspects, said the case was being investigated while the rescued baby was handed to social welfare officials after she has been certified healthy. Zaki who briefed the press yesterday on achievements of the command in the month of February, disclosed that 131 suspects have been arrested for various crimes in the month under review. The CP while giving the breakdown, said that among the arrested suspects are 55 suspected kidnappers, 39 suspected armed robbers, 16 rape suspects among others.
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