Two torture rehabilitation centres were recently discovered in the Rigasa community of Kaduna.
Saleh was locked-up by her blood elder brother, Lawal Saleh, in the room where she has been urinating, defecating and eating for two years.
Founder of a Kaduna- based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Arrida Relief Foundation, Hajiya Rabi Salisu Ibrahim who rescued Hassana said, the elder brother claimed to have locked her up because she was adamant about going to her husband’s house.
According to her: “The family believed that her husband no longer loves her and had divorced her, which they said led to her depression.
“They however decided to take the decision of locking her up in the room because they felt they had no other option.”
She said the victim will be taken to the hospital for proper check-up and called on other well- meaning Nigerians to come to her aid.
Speaking to newsmen at the Kaduna Police Command headquarters, the victim’s elder brother, Lawal said he only locked her up for about a year.
According to him: “I was helpless and did not know what to do because Hassana kept running away.
“I was away and when I came back, I was told that Hassana’s husband had divorced her and that she had run away.
He added: “By the time I came back, she was found and brought to my house where I reside with my four wives and 41 children in Rigasa.
“I did my best to get medication for her but she kept trying to run back to her former husband.”
“She was later married to another man but she opted out of the marriage because she wanted to go back to the father of her children.”
He said he decided to lock her up in the room because he could no longer foot the bills for her medication saying, “Even food to eat became a problem for me and my household.”
On the claim that he locked his sister for two year, he said: “She was locked up for seven months not two years.”
Commenting on the condition of the room she was living in, he noted that two of her sisters usual come and bath her and clean the room once in a while.
According to him: “Everyone on the neighbourhood knows about her story and they are the once who bring her back when she runs away.”
It was gathered that at the time of getting to the room where Hassana was kept, offensive odour was oozing out of the room.
The police had to force the door open as key to the room could not be found by Lawal Saleh.
A neighbour at the Rigasa residence told The Nation that Hassana was left to urinate and defecate inside the room.
He also said the room had not been opened in months, as the family only passed food to the victim through the window.
As at the time of filing this report, Hassana has been handed over to Kaduna Ministry of Human Services and Social Development.
The Commissioner, Hajia Hafsat Baba, immediately made arrangement for Hassana to be seen by a psychiatrist.
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Crime