Monday, June 25 2012

A 29-YEAR-OLD mother from central Trinidad who was charged on the weekend with burning her eight-year-old daughter’s hand on a ‘tawah’ (a flat metal traditionally used to cook roti) will appear before a Chaguanas magistrate today. The woman was arrested last week at her home in Chaguanas, following the incident which occurred on Wednesday last. The child, who is a pupil of the Montrose Vedic Primary School, was up to yesterday still warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope suffering serious third-degree burns to the hands.

The charge arose from an incident in which the girl was accused of stealing $5 from the school bag of another pupil in her school and was summoned to the principal’s office. The girl said her mother took her to the home of a female relative in Longdenville and lit a stove on which she placed a tawah.

The charge of occasioning grievous bodily harm laid against the mother, alleged that she used force to place the child’s left hand on top the tawah.

The child reported to police officers that she screamed out in pain, but an attempt was made to place her other hand on the super heated tawah. However, she managed to pull away. The girl was taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre and later transferred to the medical complex. Sergeant Susan John is continuing investigations.