Infant girl slips into coma after being gang-raped by 3 men in northwest Nigeria

In a gruesome incident in a north-west Nigerian town, a one-year-old girl slipped into coma after she was allegedly gang-raped by three men. The men reportedly snatched the baby girl from her mother who was walking back home from a nearby town.

The incident took place in the Danja Local Government Area in Katsina state on Sunday (21 May). The Katsina State Police Command has reportedly arrested one accused and launched a manhunt for the other two culprits.

According to Nigerian daily Pulse, two men offered the mother to take a ride with them on a motorcycle to her destination. After reaching a street junction, they allegedly snatched the baby girl, who was strapped to the back of the mother, and fled to the nearby bushes. Another man joined them there where they took turns raping the infant.

"At a point along the bush path, the baby, who was strapped to the back of the mother, was forcefully taken from the mother by two members of the gang. They ran inside the bush with the baby, where another member was waiting for them. The trio thereafter gang-raped the baby," the Katsina State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Isha Gambo, said, confirming the incident.

He added that one accused, identified as Saleh Suleiman, was already in police custody, but the other two were still on the run. He did not disclose the names of the other two culprits.

Gambo added that the father of the infant reported the matter to police. The child was currently receiving treatment at a hospital in the town.