Man padlocks son’s mouth, beats him to death in Lagos

A man identified as Chris Elvis has allegedly beaten his four-year old son to death while padlocking his mouth to prevent him from shouting during the beating.
The incident, which occurred on Monday afternoon at 7, Adetola Adelaja Street, Meiran area of Lagos, drew tears from members of the community.
It was gathered that Chris, who claimed to sell computer accessories, allegedly locked his son, Godrich, in the room, padlocked his mouth and beat him to death with an object that inflicted deep cuts all over his body, claiming that the boy was an evil child that dies and reincarnates repeatedly.
The matter came to light when his landlady, Mrs Popoola, who was in the market, was informed about the incident. She came home and discovered that the boy had been beaten to death by his father.
She went to Meiran police station to report the matter. The police stormed the house and arrested Elvis, who was about to escape.
After allegedly killing the boy, he locked him in one of his rooms. He told the police that nothing had happened, but when the police forced the door open, they found the dead boy with padlock in his mouth.
According to the husband of the landlady, Mr Olusola Adejumo,  the deceased boy was four years old, adding that the man had been acting strange since he packed into the compound last year.
According to him, when Elvis came into the compound about six months ago, he came with his children and wife and that he claimed to sell computer accessories, adding that in the first two weeks of his stay in the house, he allegedly beat up his wife thoroughly.
Adejumo explained that sometime ago, the man travelled with his family and did not return with his wife, but came with the four-year-old boy and another woman, whom he claimed was now his wife because he had parted ways with his former wife.
He said that it was the new wife that raised the alarm when she rushed out of the house, shouting for help, that the man wanted to kill his son, adding that the man came out of the house and chased his wife with a cutlass, calling the woman a witch.
It was gathered that the man came back into his room and locked it, padlocked the boy’s mouth and beat him till he died.
Meanwhile, the police had taken the corpse away and deposited it at the Ota General Hospital, while the man was detained and would be transferred to Area ‘M’ Police Division in Lagos later for further investigation.
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