Residents of Shiabu, a fishing community near Dansoman in Accra, are still trying to unravel the mystery behind the case in which a 36-year old fishmonger, Gloria Lartey-Larkai, dipped the head of her 18-year-old stepdaughter in a very hot palm-nut soup, the P&P (People & Places) reports.

The victim, Felicia Kotey, was said to have suffered the brutality following an alleged refusal on her part to put salt in a soup she had prepared.

Realising the gravity of the offence, she had committed, Madam Lartey-Larkai was reported to have gone into hiding shortly afterwards, but was apprehended by the police some two days later.

P & P investigations have established that Gloria lives with her husband, their 11-year-old daughter, and the poor victim in a compound house at Shiabu. The victim is said to be the daughter of Gloria's present husband whose name was given as Daniel Kotey, a mason.

At about 5.30 pm on Tuesday, April 10, 2001, the suspect was alleged to have asked her step-daughter to prepare some palm- nut soup so the rest of the family could take it as supper with a few balls of kenkey.

Gloria was said to have left to see a friend at Dansoman while the 18-year old apprentice seamstress prepared the soup as ordered.

When the suspect returned home some two hours later, she tasted the soup the victim had prepared only to realise that she had forgotten to put in salt.

According to a well-placed source, Gloria was alleged to have gone into the victim's room fuming with anger and dragged her out into the kitchen. She then asked her step-daughter to take a ladle and taste the soup which was still boiling very hot on the stove.

While the young girl did that, the suspect was reported to have snatched the ladle from her and forced her head into the soup, cursing and insulting her at the same time. The loud screams of the 18-year-old attracted the attention of neighbours who immediately rushed to her rescue.

She was then rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where doctors ascertained the severity of her case. "She was brought here in a very critical condition. In fact, her entire face was severely burnt, and she could hardly see. We therefore had no option than to rush her to the theatre and save her eyes from perpetual damage. So that exactly was what we did," a doctor at the hospital told P & P.