Man stones girlfriend to death

A young man, Mr. Lawrence Ette, has been accused of stoning his 23-year-old girlfriend, Miss Rosaline Christopher, to death.

The tragedy was said to have occurred penultimate Sunday at 13, Academy Street, Calabar, Cross River State.

An eyewitness, who is the landlady of the deceased, Miss Dorothy Bassey, said Rosaline had a brawl with her boyfriend, before he allegedly killed her.

Bassey said Rosaline, who lived with her aged mother and siblings, had been in a relationship with Ette for a while.

She said because of the frosty relationship between the lovers in recent time, Rosaline’s mother stopped Ette from visiting her daughter.

“But even with the instruction from the old woman, Ette kept sneaking in to see the girl particularly at night,” she added.

It was learnt that during one of such visits penultimate Sunday, there was a misunderstanding between the lovers, which prompted the girl to ask Ette to leave.

Bassey said, “Rosaline did not know that Ette took her phone away. After some time, her younger sister, Nne, wanted to use the phone only for her to find out that the phone was missing.

“That was when she discovered that Ette had gone with the phone. Nne decided to go and look for Ette so that she can get her sister’s phone.

“But while Nne took the main exit and headed for Target Street, Ette sneaked into the house through the back door from Webber Street and Nne missed him.”

It was gathered that when Ette returned to the house, an argument ensued between the lovers resulting in a fight.

“She did not scream while they were struggling because she wanted to send him away quietly without attracting her mother’s attention but that was her mistake as Ette stepped out of the room, got a stone and hit her with it,” the landlady said.

She said when he realised that the girl was dead; Ette allegedly attempted to dispose of the body by throwing it over the fence.

Bassey said, “He carried her on his shoulder towards the backyard and was trying to throw the body over the fence. When the girl’s mother heard a strange noise at the backyard, she asked Nne to find out what it was.

“But when Nne got to the backyard, she saw Ette carrying her sister on his shoulder. Immediately he sensed that he had been sighted, he abandoned the corpse and fled.

“Since it was dark, a neighbour brought out a torch and during a search, Rosaline’s corpse was found inside the gutter.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that her corpse had been taken to the mortuary at the General Hospital, Calabar.

One of Ette’s neighbours at 10, Anating Street, Calabar, who craved anonymity, said the suspect “hurriedly came here and packed some clothes into a bag and left and has since not been seen.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. John Umoh, said the matter which was reported at Atakpa Police Station was being handled by the homicide unit of the police.

“It will not be long before we get him, the advisable thing for him to do is to come out of hiding now,” the PPRO said.

PUNCH NEWSPAPER