A 40-year-old woman, Folasade Badejo, has been allegedly killed by her husband, Oluranti Badejo, at their house in Orimerunmu, Mowe, in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Folasade, a fashion designer, on Wednesday, got into an argument with her husband over the payment of their three children’s school fees.
The argument was said to have degenerated into fisticuffs as 51-year-old Oluranti allegedly smashed Folasade’s head against the wall of their apartment.
She was said to have fallen.
Their eight-year-old daughter, Jumoke, reportedly said her father abandoned her mother on the floor, as she writhed in pain.
The victim was said to have died.
The suspect was alleged to have subsequently burnt her corpse with a hot iron.
Folasade’s younger brother, Lekan Yusuf, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said he received a call on the incident from one of the couple’s neighbours.
He said, “On getting to their house on Wednesday morning, I saw my sister’s body was burnt with an electric iron and blood was still oozing out of her nostrils and ears.
“The two of them always quarrelled just like any other couple and when I lived with them for three months, no day passed that he did not beat her, especially over money matters.
“On several occasions, even when I was living with them at Ajegunle, Oluranti beat my sister whenever he returned home from work, even when she was asleep.”
The victim’s elder sister, Ayoade Busola, said she learnt about the incident through a family member in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, who called her on the phone.
She said, “Immediately, my husband and I boarded a bike and rushed to their house only to see my sister’s lifeless body on the ground near the freezer with different parts of her body burnt with a pressing iron.
“I asked Oluranti what happened and he told me that when he came back from work on Tuesday night, she complained to him that the electricity connection to their apartment was faulty.
“He said after eating and retiring to bed, his daughter came to wake him up to see her mother, only for him to see her lifeless near the freezer as she had been electrocuted.
“When I looked at my sister’s hands, they were not burnt but other parts of her body were bruised, burnt and blood was still oozing out from her nostrils and ears.
“We later reported the case at the Mowe Police Station and when the officers came and looked at the body, they arrested him.”
The deceased’s father, Saheed Yusuf, demanded justice for Folasade.
Saheed said the couple’s daughter, Jumoke, told the police that her mother demanded school fees from her father and when they started to argue, he slammed her head against the wall.
He said, “Jumoke told us and the police that when she went to tell her father to take her mother to a hospital or call one Aunty Nurse who resided in the community to treat her mother, he told her that members of the OPC guarding the area would beat them if they ventured outside at that time of the day.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that Oluranti was arrested and taken to the Mowe Police Station.
He was said to have been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Eleweran.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday.
Oyeyemi said the younger sister of the deceased reported the incident at the Mowe divisional police headquarters.
He said, “The lifeless body of the victim was taken to a mortuary in Sagamu for post-mortem examination.
“Preliminary investigation, however, revealed that the suspect strangled the deceased during a scuffle as a result of a minor disagreement.
“Having realised that he had killed his wife, the suspect used a hot iron to burn parts of the body of the deceased so as to look as if she was electrocuted. But unfortunately for him, their eight-year-old daughter was there and witnessed the whole thing.
“It was the daughter who testified seeing her father strangulating her deceased mother to death.”
