By Abimbola Ogunnaike
An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a man, named Rasheed Wasiu, to life imprisonment for having sexual intercourse with his neighbour’s eleven-year-old daughter.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, in his judgment, held that Wasiu defiled the survivor in a beastly manner.
Oshodi, who said that the offence of defilement was grave and attracted a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, added that the convict lied in his evidence before the court.
He said notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence against the convict, he continued to deny the offence.
“The evidence shows that you had sexual intercourse with an eleven-year-old girl and even at sentencing, you showed no remorse.
“She was your neighbour’s daughter and she was to your knowledge, a child but you grabbed her in the toilet, pushed her to the wall and had sexual intercourse with her in a beastly manner.
“This is unacceptable and you must be ashamed and punished according to the mandatory sentence.
“Therefore, the sentence I pass upon you is one of life imprisonment,” the judge said, adding that the convict’s name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
The Justice Oshodi also said there was consistent evidence that the survivor, Prosecution Witness Three (PW3), was 11 years old as of March 2018, when the events that led to this prosecution occurred.
He held that the prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that the survivor was a child as of March 2018.
“It is undisputed that the prosecutrix (PW3) and the defendant lived in the same house in Apapa, Lagos.
“The crime scene is the general toilet in the house, which is in the backyard and the IPO gave a satisfactory description of it.
“He stated that the bathroom was beside the toilet and they were both dark because there was no lighting in the backyard.
“The survivor explained that she went to the toilet because she was pressed when the defendant forcefully had sex with her,” the judge said.
The State Counsel, led by Mr Babajide Boye, called four witnesses to establish its case against the convict, while the defence called three witnesses in a bid to deny the allegation.
The prosecution had tendered three documents as exhibits, namely; the extra-judicial statement of the survivor who testified as Prosecution Witness Three (PW3), the extra-judicial statement of the survivor’s father, who testified as Prosecution Witness Four (PW4), and the defendant’s extra-judicial statement who had testified as Defence Witness One (DW1).
According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
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