A 50-YEAR-OLD man, Usman Tajudeen, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Ekiti State for raping a four-year-old girl.
Tajudeen was sentenced on Thursday, June 23, 2022 by Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the State High Court.
The defendant was tried before the court on one count of rape and found guilty.
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“That you, Usman Tajudeen, on August 21, 2020, at Ikere Ekiti, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did rape a four-year-old girl,” the charge read.
The prosecuting team led by K. S. Adeyemo, said the offence was contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap.C7 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
In her statement to the police, the victim said that the incident happened in the defendant’s sitting room.
“Daddy Latifat (the defendant), who is living at our house, took me to his sitting room. He said I should sit on his lap; he removed my pants and put his something (penis) where I urinate. He used to call me to his sitting room to do it,” the girl said.
Also, in her testimony before the court, the victim’s mother said that she discovered that her daughter had been raped when she saw blood on her faeces.
“I was where I was making cassava flour and my daughter went to excrete. When I went to pack the faeces, I noticed blood in the faeces.
The witness said, “Thereafter, I checked her anus and saw blood coming out of her private parts. I was afraid. When I inquired from her, she said it was Daddy Latifat that put his organ (penis) in her private parts.”
The convict, who spoke in his defence through his counsel, Tope Salam, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
Ruling, Ogunmoye noted that the prosecuting team had successfully established its case against the defendant.
“The prosecutor has established before the court that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the minor without her consent and, therefore, committed the offence of rape as charged.
“In all, the prosecution has proved this case beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant. The sentence for the offence of rape under the Child Rights Law is mandatory; he is sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge said.
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