A commercial tricycle operator, Chinedu Adim, has been arrested for allegedly beating his eight-year-old daughter to coma in Ifite, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Adim, a father of two, who claimed his wife abandoned him eight years ago, allegedly beat the child with a hard object.

But the suspect denied the allegations against him, insisting that his daughter’s situation was spiritual.

“I was formally a member of Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) before I started driving Keke. We married 12years ago with two kids, a girl and a boy, aged eight and six years, respectively.

“My wife left me eight years ago after my shop got burnt. My kids were suffering in the village and I had to pick them five years ago.

“My daughter woke up one morning and I observed injuries all over her body while I was bathing her. I asked her and she said she woke up to see lines on her body. I took her to the hospital where she was treated.

“The second time, she said she fell on the tiles and sustained injuries on the head. Some things she does appear strange to me. Sometimes I wake up at midnight and won’t see her. I said this is not ordinary and took her to church for deliverance.

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“The third time I came back to drop food for her, I was told she was rushed to the hospital. She was in a coma throughout yesterday,” he narrated.

Reacting, Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, said in the report she got indicated that the suspect beat the victim to coma, describing his narration as folk tales.

She said: “The girl has been in the hospital since yesterday. The father beat her to stupor, claiming she was beaten in the dream. He had thought she would die so as to cover his actions.

“You know when men are abandoned by their wives, they tend to transfer aggression on their innocent children and forget that their blood is running in them.

“We’re not saying that parents should not flog their kids as a way of correcting them. But you beat them according to their age.”

While assuring adequate medical attention for the victim to ensure she survived, Obinabo said the suspect would be handed over to the police for further interrogation and prosecution.