A man, Idowu Fawolere, has been accused of beating his three-month-old pregnant wife, Deborah to death.
The accusation was leveled against the family of the deceased, who was represented by her sister, Toluwalase Adedoyin.
NIGERIACRIME learnt that Deborah, a mother of six, who was carrying her seventh child died at the Gbagada General Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday.
Adedoyin claimed that her late sister had left Idowu’s house on several occasions on account of assault and violence, an allegation the embattled husband denied.
Adedoyin said, “My younger sister died this morning. The husband had been beating her before she died today. He used to beat her up. We believe the physical assault caused damage to her health, considering her condition. She had given birth to six children for this man. This was her seventh pregnancy before she died. She died during the pregnancy.
“Just yesterday (Monday), my late sister told one of our sisters that her husband and his elder brother used to beat her up. She alleged that she didn’t have peace of mind in the house and that both of them were making life miserable for her. That she could no longer walk.
“Before she made her complaint known yesterday (Tuesday), there had been several complaints that the beating was too much. I told my parents that they should take her away from the house. But whenever she left her husband, she would return the second day.”
Idowu, in his reaction on Tuesday, said his late wife’s family is cooking lies against him based on the false information that Deborah had fed them with.
He said, “It is not true. I was the one who took her to the hospital. She wasn’t feeling well. When we took her to a private hospital, they were the ones who transferred us to the General Hospital. I didn’t beat her. The only issue that took us to the police station earlier was between her and my mother. She fought my mother and my younger siblings. And this was not even when she was pregnant.
“I was not home when they fought at the time. I told my mother at the time that she could not send my wife out because she had children for me. My brother didn’t touch her at all. It was even my brother and I who were taking her to the hospital when she started feeling unwell.
“Despite the way she used to insult my brother, he still followed us to the hospital. The people are just saying all these things just because of the issue that came up between us a long time ago.”
Contacted, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Joke Ladenegan-Oginni, said the agency had yet to receive any information regarding the issue while urging the family to report the case.
She said, “There is little we can do if you don’t report it. If people don’t report incidents of violence, how would the agency know? If people don’t report them, it will be difficult for us to know. We have toll-free lines that people can call when they see incidents like these.”