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LOOKING at the picture of two-year-old Lovelyn William will elicit tears from the heart of any human being. Naked, with her mouth tapered, hands tied backwards and legs tied together, she lay on the floor of a room at Itori in Ogun State.

It was her stepmother, 28-year-old Christiana Faturoti, who allegedly threw her there as a punishment because she soiled herself. After putting the child in the room, she padlocked it and left for her workplace.

For over two hours on February 17, the little girl, who turned two on February 15, 2015, groaned and moaned, until a neighbour heard the sound and traced it to an unoccupied room which was padlocked. After peeping and seeing the girl in such a condition, the neighbour quickly alerted the police at Itori police station. Christiana was promptly arrested and is currently undergoing interrogation at the Anti-Human Trafficking section of the Department of Criminal Investigation, Ogun State Police Command.

Lovelyn’s mother was reported to have developed baby blues (mental illness) after birth and is currently at a psychiatric hospital where she is undergoing treatment.