The grade eight pupil of Deeper Life Upper Basic School was reported missing by her mother on the morning of Tuesday, April 29.
Speaking to The Standard yesterday, Fatoumatta also known as ‘Matta Bah’, dismissed speculations that she ran away from home because of being physically abused by her mother.
She explained: “I had a fight with my little sister and that is normal. I do not know what went into my head and so I ran off to Brikama. But before that, a lady found me along the road and asked if I would go with her to Brikama and I just said yes. That was how I went to Brikama. She did not know me and I do not know her. She just took me to Brikama. I stayed with her for a month.
“People are saying that my mom used to beat me but that is not true. When issues like this happen people say all kinds of stuff about things they don’t know. My mom does not beat me. I just had a fight with my sister. It was a little misunderstanding. It is the work of God. If God wished for anything it happens. I have no problems with my mother. My mother is my friend. I love my mom. I like my mom very much.”
Asked about the condition of her sojourn with the stranger woman in Brikama, she said: “I faced no difficulties there at all but I was sad there because it is not my home. I cannot be comfortable there as much as I am comfortable here at home. I refused to come home at the time because I was thinking that there will be a lot of talk when I get home. It wasn’t my wish to stay there for a month or so.”
Fatoumatta’s mother, Binta Gassama told this paper: “I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped in one way or the other. My daughter has returned and she returned in peace. There has been a lot of talk as to what we did or did not do to Matta. I just want to say thank you, that’s all.”
Her aunty, Nyako Gassama added: “What people are speculating was just not true. Matta’s mom is not a harsh woman and she never beats her children without reason. People have been talking in town with some saying that I was the one who gave her tough time and that was why she left. I am always at the market place selling my stuff. I am not aware of any hardship towards Matta.”
By Alagie Manneh
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