A 17-year-old girl, Omowunmi (surname withheld) who stabbed her aunt, Mrs Funmilayo Adelayi, to death in Ondo State, has been discovered to have psychiatric problem before the act.
It was learnt that the teenager stabbed her aunt when she felt that she was pestering her too much to take prescribed medications.
Confirming this in a statement on Sunday, the police spokeswoman for the state police command, SP Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said that the police got information about the death of the woman in her mid 50s in her home on Sunday, March 17, with her body already decomposing.
According to the PPRO, “the police took the remains to the morgue, and during clean up, a mark of violence ( stabbing) was observed while a knife was also found at the scene of crime.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased lived with her niece, Omowunmi Aduloju, aged 17, who suddenly disappeared and locked the door.
“The stench oozing out of the house attracted the residents who notified the deceased’s sister. The sister, on arrival, peeped through the window and saw the body on the floor.”
The image-maker stated further that when the information got to the police, detectives removed the decomposing corpse for preservation.
The niece of the deceased was later arrested by the police, and when interrogated on what happened to her aunt, she confessed that she was the one who stabbed and locked her up in the house because she was always disturbing her to take her prescribed medications.
Family members reportedly told the police that the girl had been in her late aunt’s care since she was six years old, but developed psychiatric illness in 2023 and was admitted at a psychiatric hospital in the state.
They said that she was later discharged and handed over to the late woman to continue to take care of her.
The psychiatric hospital where she was treated was said to have confirmed the claim by providing the police with her medical history.
The PPRO said that the suspect is currently in police medical facility for safety in order to avoid her injuring herself and others.