A nine-year-old girl is tied to a chicken coop by her stepmother as punishment for allegedly smoking, reported newspaper El Espectador Friday.
The child has been tied to the outside large chicken coop, since January 1 because others said they had seen her smoking a cigarette.
“If I untie her, she will go and she has been seen smoking a cigarette, supposedly marijuana, that’s why I had to tie her up,” said her eight-month-pregnant stepmother
The family, who live in Mocoa, the capital of Putumayo department in the southwest of the country, say being tied up by the foot has not caused the child any mental distress.
A family social worker heard of the case in and the child was temporarily cared for by a foster mother but was then returned to her father and stepmother.
The stepmother said she is waiting for a response from Colombia’s Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) about what they will do with the child.