A woman who beat her two-and-a-half-year-old stepson for stealing soup, which resulted in his death, was on Thursday remanded in prison custody when she appeared before the Aflao Circuit court on a provisional murder charge.

Remanded with Dzigbordi Akpalu, 22, was her husband, 39-year-old farmer Agbeko Afertorgbor who is charged for abetting crime. Agbeko is being held for collaborating with his wife to bury the deceased to conceal her crime. Their plea was not taken and they will re-appear on December 6.

The court presided over by Mr Francis Opoku heard that Afetorgbor who had divorced the mother of his child, Nicholas Afertorgbor, took custody of him after he married Dzigbordi.

Late last year, Dzigbordi, who returned from town to meet Nicholas, enjoying soup she had reserved for supper, got angry and beat the boy till he collapsed. The prosecution said the landlord and some neighbours resuscitated the boy and later reported the conduct of Dzigbordi to the police.

Dzigbordi and Afertorgbor sent the boy to hospital at Tokoin in the Republic of Togo, where he died the following day. The accused persons informed the Aflao police a day later that the boy had been treated and discharged and sent to his mother at Aneho, also in Togo.

The accused persons returned to Togo and started preparations for the burial of Nicholas. The prosecution said someone from Togo informed the Aflao police about the matter and with the assistance of the Togo authorities the accused persons were arrested. An autopsy conducted by the Tokoin hospital indicated that the boy died from an unnatural cause