18-year-old boy identified as Franklin Njoku was almost lynched by youths of Uvuru in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State for allegedly defiling his landlord’s 4-year-old daughter, Gloria and hanging her on a tree.On Sunday April 6, 2014, Franklin, a Senior School Certificate Examination candidate, who had rented a room in a house belonging to the victim’s father, Mr Eze was said to have lured the little girl with sweets into a nearby bush where he sexually abused her after which he strangled her to death.
He tried to cover his tracks by hanging the girl’s lifeless body on a dwarf palm tree to make it look like she committed suicide but he was not so lucky as he was caught in the act by a neighbour.She raised an alarm which attracted others to the scene. The suspect was immediately pounced on by some youths in the community and was almost lynched but for the intervention of some other residents who pleaded with them to stop and he was later handed over to the police.It was gathered from sources that Franklin from Ohekelem in Ngorokpala Local Government Area of the state had gone to Ovuru community to sit for the ongoing West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and his parents had decided to rent a room in Eze’s compound to reduce the stress of having to commute between the two communities on a daily basis.
After his arrival he began to show special interest in the 4-year old Gloria and was drawing her close to him with small gifts but the parents saw nothing out of the ordinary in this, thinking that it was just his way of showing appreciation.Upon interrogation, the suspect who admitted to committing the crime said it was the handiwork of the devil while pleading for leniency.
Parading the suspect at the police headquarters in Owerri, last week, the state commissioner of police, Alhaji Abdulmajid Ali, said the suspect would be charged to court as soon as the police concluded their investigation into the matter.