Brothers locks sister up for 5 months after she got pregnant outside wedlock

NIGERIA – A woman who was locked up by her relatives for 5 months has been rescued.

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in Gombe State rescued the 35-year-old woman over the weekend.

Saratu Ayuba of Bolari quarters in Gombe metropolis was rescued following a tip-off by neighbours after they learnt of the inhuman condition she was subjected to while locked up at the family house.

Witnesses said Saratu was chained and locked up alongside her two-month-old daughter inside an unhygienic, single room at their family house at Bolari quarters in the metropolis.

Saratu, who appeared visibly emaciated without proper clothing, said she was only given tea and bread once a day for the last five months she had been locked up in the room.

Due to her unhealthy condition, she couldn’t produce enough breast milk to feed her daughter, she said.

She said her former husband was responsible for the pregnancy, adding that he did it deliberately to force her brothers to get her back to their house. She said her former husband “mistakenly” divorced her twice.

She said she has two other children, Alkasim, ten and Fatima, 8, from her first marriage.

However, Saratu’s elder brother, Muhammad Tajudden, told reporters that they locked her in the room after she was diagnosed with a mental illness.