By Izunna Okafor, Awka
A yet-to-be-identified young lady was, on Wednesday, sighted dumped along a major road in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, after having been tied hand-to-leg with ropes and folded in a cloth by a suspected ritualist.
The incident, which caused anxiety in the area, attracted a large number of passersby who thronged the scene in disbelief, struggling to comprehend the nature of what lay before them.
This was corroborated by videos from the scene currently trending on social media, showing the victim tightly bound and strangely dumped by the road side, initially leaving people in a state of uncertainty as to whether it was a human being, an object, or a sacrificial item.
While many feared to go close, further videos from the scene show a courageous man approach to untie her by tearing the wrapped clothes and cutting off the ropes with blade razor, only for the people to discover that it was a human being, a female, stripped almost naked by her oppressor and yet-to-be-identified suspect.
This triggered a mixture of awe, fear, and emotional reactions from those present, as the victim was gradually unwrapped before the crowd.
While some reports allege that the victim was already dead by the time she was untied; some others say she was rescued alive and was rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention.
As at the time of this publication, the circumstances surrounding the incident still remain unclear, including the identity of the victim, the motive and the identity of the person behind the act; as well as the present condition of the victim.
While the public still awaits official information and updates from authorities about the strange incident, the suspected ritualistic act has, however, triggered a chain of reactions and counter-reactions on social media, with netizens voicing out their opinions and sporadically throwing blames over the incident.
Efforts by this reporter, Izunna Okafor, to get the reactions of the Police Public Relations Officer for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, proved abortive as he was yet to respond to messages of inquiries sent to him as at the time of this publication.
Watch the videos from the scene:
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