Nursing mother arrested for allegedly inflicting blade wounds on 5-year-old in Bole.

A 35-year-old nursing mother and seamstress has been arrested by the Bole District Police for allegedly inflicting blade wounds and applying pepper on a five-year-old girl in her care at Bole Mempeasem, a suburb of Bole in the Savannah Region.

The disturbing incident was uncovered on the evening of Wednesday, May 20, 2026, when the Assembly Member for Mempeasem Electoral Area, Hassan Abu Peace Brother, discovered the injured child behind his house at around 7:00pm.

Speaking to Adom News, the Assemblyman recounted he went around trying to locate the child’s parents, as the young girl could only refer to her mother as “mama.”

After successfully locating the guardian, he pleaded with her not to harm the child after being told she always beats the child. However, by the following morning, he received a shocking call.

“An old woman told me the woman will beat the child throughout the night because that’s what she usually does so I confronted the woman but she assured me she won’t beat her. Around 6:00am this morning, however, I received a call that she beat the child and even inflicted blade wounds on her before sending her to school.”

Upon receiving the distress call, the Assemblyman immediately followed up at the child’s school and promptly alerted both the police and social welfare authorities.

School officials then invited the suspect to the premises. On her arrival, she was arrested by police. The Assemblyman has since urged parents to exercise caution when entrusting their children to the care of others.

“If you’re not ready to take care of a child, don’t give birth and hand the child over to someone… every child has the right to live. I’ll support any punishment given to the woman,” he said.

When Adom News interviewed the suspect at the Bole District Police Station, Marijana Alhassan, speaking in her native language, Waala, denied inflicting blade wounds on the child.

She clarified that the victim is not her biological daughter but her husband’s sister’s child, who comes to stay with the family whenever her mother goes on study leave.

She described the child as highly dependent, saying the girl was unable to eat, undress, or use the toilet on her own — a situation she said placed considerable strain on her.

While she admitted pushing the child away in frustration, she claimed the girl fell onto a mopping stick and sustained the injuries as a result. She said she later dressed the child and sent her to school, only to be summoned by school authorities a short while later and subsequently arrested by police upon her arrival at the school.

Marijana Alhassan remains in custody at the Bole District Police Station and is scheduled to appear before the Bole District Magistrate Court on Tuesday

Social welfare authorities are said to be actively following up on the welfare of the child, who continues to receive medical care at the Bole District Government Hospital.
Source: Adom News