Osun tailor allegedly burns 17-year-old customer with hot iron over clothing dispute

female tailor in Osun State, identified as Iya Abdullahi, allegedly attacked a teenage girl with a hot pressing iron for reportedly complaining about a dress the victim had given her to sew.

 

The incident occurred on Wednesday at the tailor’s shop in the Obelawo Area of Osogbo after the teenager (name withheld) reportedly visited the shop to return her wrongly made clothing.

 

Recounting her ordeal, the victim, who is in a hospital for treatment, displayed the injuries she sustained from the hot iron on her body and sought justice.

 

She said she had taken a cloth to Iya Abdullahi to sew for her, and after discovering that the dress was too short for her to wear, she returned it.

 

“Instead of adjusting the dress, Iya Abdullahi started raining curses on me. I rebuked her, and she started flogging me with a stick. I struggled to dispossess her of the cane. Immediately, she went into her shop and took a hot pressing iron and used it to press my body in different places,” she lamented in pain,” the victim narrated. 

 

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization in the state, Value Female Network, has demanded justice for the 17-year-old survivor, wondering how “something that began as a minor dispute over a clothing issue escalated into a violent attack on the minor.”

 

In a detailed report of the incident made available to The Guardian in Osogbo and also forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for action, the Executive Director of VFN, Dr. Costly Aderibigbe-Saba, said, “The case further involves allegations of abuse of authority by the tailor’s husband, a police officer, who is reportedly trying to suppress the matter.

 

"The 17-year-old girl had given her cloth to a local tailor for sewing. Upon receiving the finished outfit, she found it too small and returned it for necessary adjustments. A minor disagreement followed this request. The tailor, rather than addressing the complaint, began laying curses on the girl.

 

"In an attempt to defend herself verbally, the girl responded, which further enraged the tailor. The tailor then physically assaulted the girl and went as far as using a hot pressing iron to burn multiple areas on her body.