TITILAYO Olatunji, a 55- year old banker in Lagos has been remanded in the Kirikiri prisons by an Ikeja Magistrate Court judge for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, the presiding Magistrate, B.O Osunsanmi, did not allow the defendant to enter his plea, but instructed that he should be kept in prison while she sought legal counsel from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.

The case is being prosecuted by Ezekiel Ayorinde, Assistant Superintendent of Police, who reported to the court that Olatunji allegedly defiled the little girl − his neighbour’s daughter − in his house on February 19.

The offence violated Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 and the accused person could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted.

According to Vanguard, the prosecutor informed the court that the defendant called the girl into his room with a pretext of sending her on an errand.

“When the girl entered, he locked his room and had sexual intercourse with her,” Ayorinde was quoted as telling the court. “The girl told her mother when she returned from work that her private part was paining (sic )her.

“The mother asked her who touched her sex organ and she narrated to her mother what the defendant did to her.”

After the sexual assault on the girl was confirmed through some medical examinations at the hospital, the case was reported to the police and Olatunji was duly arrested.

The magistrate adjourned the case t0 April 14 for hearing.

According to WHO the adverse effects of rape include sexually transmitted diseases, suicidal behaviour, mental health and behavioural problems, pregnancy and gynaecological complications and social ostracisation.