A pregnant mother-of-four has been arrested for torturing her 10-year-old house help after accusing her of eating her children's food.

Juliet Ozoarinze, who has four children and is pregnant with her fifth, allegedly used different objects including a knife and a pestle to inflict injuries on Blessing who began living with the family in July 2017.

Juliet reportedly began physically abusing Blessing almost as soon as she began living with them as the maid. The agreement had been that Blessing will help the family with house chores while they, in turn, send her to school. Blessing's mother, who has four kids including Blessing, couldn't take care of all of them alone, so in order for Blessing to have an education, she had to leave home in Abuja to come to Lagos where an aunt called Vivian gave her to the Ozoarinze family to serve as a maid.

But living with the family at their home in Ijesha, Surulere, Lagos State was far from rosy for Blessing who was accused of a number of things by her madam, including witchcraft and theft. She was allegedly beaten over very trivial things, like when she did not answer summons promptly of if she was tardy in running errands.

Then on Tuesday, October 17, the suspect’s husband, Kenneth, was reported to have returned Blessing to her aunt, Vivian after the wife allegedly used a knife to cut the 10-year-old in the hand for allegedly stealing and eating the food meant for her children. Kenneth told Vivian he was not pleased with what his wife had done, hence he was returning the girl to ensure there was no repeat of such. But after Kenneth left, Vivian noticed Blessing was having difficulty sitting so she asked her to remove her clothes and she was shocked at the extent of injuries on her body. She had whip marks, could barely walk or sit, and had lots of other scars on her body from injuries both old and new.

At this point, Blessing revealed that Mrs Ozoarinze had been maltreating her since she moved in with them. She disclosed she's been hit on the head and waist with a pestle. Vivian called Kenneth and asked him to foot Blessing's hospital bill so she could get treated for her injuries but he said he had no money. Vivian was then advised to take the case to a human rights organization. Vivian eventually reported to the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender and the wife was arrested.

When queried on what the victim did, the suspect allegedly claimed that Blessing stole her children’s provisions and food. She reportedly denied beating Blessing with objects. She has now been arraigned in a magistrate’s court, according to reports.