Devil pushed me to pour hot water on my neighbour

It has been 16 days since Mrs. Mabel
Enwongomfon–Umoh is being confined to an
hospital bed following the injuries she sustained
when her neighbour, identified as Williams
Esther, bathed her with a bucket of hot water
during a minor argument.
The incident, which happened on Christmas eve,
did not only leave Mabel in excruciating pain as
she sustained severe burns on her chest, breasts,
neck and a part of her face, it also deprived her
two months old baby from being breastfed
because of her breast injuries.
The incident started like a minor disagreement on
December 24. But soon after, it snowballed into
a heated argument such that Mabel’s neighbour,
Esther Williams, entered her room and came out
with a bucket of hot water and emptied the
content on her, leaving her with severe injuries.
Following Esther’s arrest by the Isheri division of
the Lagos State Police Command and her
subsequent arraignment at an Ikeja Magistrate’s
court, the mother of one said the devil was to
blame for the incident.
Esther, a househelp before her action landed her
in police custody, spoke with Saturday PUNCH
before her arraignment, saying even though she
knew the hot water could inflict severe injury on
her neighbour, she did it out of anger. “I’m sorry.
I was pushed by the devil to do it. I wish I didn’t
do it. After I did it, people were beating me
before I was arrested. I feel bad. I’m sorry.
Everybody in the house makes trouble, not only
me,” she said.
While Esther had since been remanded in police
custody until she satisfies the bail conditions
imposed by the court; a bail of N500,000 and
two sureties in like sum among other conditions,
and the matter adjourned till March 9, 2016,
Mabel, who has been bedridden since the
incident happened, says she has missed
breastfeeding her baby.
“Sometimes, I would see milk coming out of my
breasts, which was a sign that my baby was
crying but there was nothing I could do,” she told
Saturday PUNCH .
She said her baby had been feeding on formula.
She recalled that her first child could not stand
what had become of her face and body the first
time she and the two-month-old baby visited her
in the hospital.
“She ran away and refused to come inside until
they went back home, but she has now got used
to it,” she said.
When our correspondent visited Mabel during the
week, even though she had been discharged, she
was still unable to go home owing to unpaid
medical bill. Thus, she remained the hospital’s
guest.
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