A male student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, is battling severe burns in hospital after a female lodge mate allegedly poured boiling water on him during a late-night confrontation over a suspected sexual assault.

The incident occurred in an off-campus students’ lodge, where residents say tensions had been building over repeated complaints by the female student that someone had been entering her room at night to fondle her while she slept.

According to multiple students in the lodge, the latest episode began at about 2am when the woman reportedly woke up to feel someone touching her body again. She said she saw a figure, dressed only in shorts, fleeing her room. Stepping outside, she first met her female roommate, who had been sleeping outside because of the heat, and the roommate denied any involvement.

Further along the corridor, she encountered a male lodge mate identified as John, a 300-level student, sitting on the stairs, shirtless and in shorts. Suspecting him, she confronted him directly, asking if he had entered her room to touch her. Witnesses say John reacted angrily, denying the allegation and complaining that it was not the first time she had made serious accusations against him.

The exchange quickly escalated into a heated argument that drew other residents from their rooms. Students described a prolonged verbal altercation, with both parties raising their voices as lodge mates tried to calm them. Eventually, the woman returned to her room and the crowd dispersed, believing the matter had ended for the night.

Not long after, the lodge was jolted awake by piercing screams. One female resident said she had been dozing, barely clothed because of the heat, when she heard what she initially thought was an armed robbery attack. Rushing downstairs with others, she said they found John writhing in pain, his skin peeling and blistered, after his female colleague allegedly doused him with boiling water.

Witnesses said the woman had quietly boiled the water after the argument, then poured it on John where he lay or sat, catching him off guard. Video clips shared among students show John later in a hospital bed, heavily bandaged across his chest, abdomen, back, shoulders, arms and parts of his legs.

Students in the lodge and across the campus have been calling for prayers for John’s recovery, while also demanding a thorough investigation into both the alleged nocturnal assaults and the violent retaliation that followed.