A man, Kazeem Adedayo, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice A. Soladoye of the Special Offenses Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, for sexually assaulting an eleven-year-old girl.
Three prosecuting witnesses testified against the defendant, while two exhibits were presented to the court against him.
Giving details of the incident, the victim(name withheld), who was the second prosecuting witness, said the defendant, whom she identified as Daddy Jamal, inserted his finger in her private part, which caused her great pain and made her cry.
She said sometime in January 2018, her mother asked her and her brother to fetch water. While fetching the water, some of it poured on her body. While trying to clean her body, Adedayo, who was their neighbour, walked up to her and asked to know what happened to her chest. She replied that she had sustained an injury while fetching water.
According to her, Adedayo then asked her if she had taken care of her private part, after which he now inserted his finger into it. He then asked her to follow him into his room, which she refused.
She said she had to open up about the incident to a neighbor who noticed the strangeness in her behaviour. This led to her mother finding out about the incident and then involving the police, who arrested Adedayo.
Justice Soladoye said, “During cross-examination, the victim was truthful, unambiguous and maintained that the defendant inserted his finger in her vagina despite the fact that she struggled with him.”
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The first prosecuting witness, a medical doctor who works with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, simply identified as Dr Alabi, recalled that he medically examined the victim after receiving a referral letter from the Divisional Police Officer of Akinpelu Police Station, Oshodi, Lagos.
According to him, he noticed that the victim’s private part was reddened and bruised, adding that her hymen was almost obliterated. He said his findings concluded that the victim had suffered repeated penetration, adding that the victim could not have consented to any sexual act with the defendant.
While reading her judgement, Justice Soladoye said the evidence presented by the doctor was truthful, consistent and quite persuasive with no reexamination questions from the defense counsel.
The third prosecuting witness, Investigating Police Officer, Adebayo Eko, who served at Akinpelu Police Station in 2018, told the court that he obtained statements from the victim and the defendant, which were tabled as Exhibit A and B before the court.
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While reading her judgement, Justice Soladoye said the defendant “denied assaulting the victim, that he met the victim and other kids playing in a manner that he considered rough. He cautioned them before going into his room with a friend and gave them some of the toys his own children play with. According to him, he was still in his room till evening and only went outside for a party when he noticed that the victim and her siblings were no longer outside.”
She stated that the evidence given by the defendant was only an afterthought to distance himself from being held accountable for his crime. She then rubbished the evidence given by the defendant’s sister whom she described as a tainted witness, saying she served a purpose which was to redeem the image of her brother.
“The defendant having been found guilty as charged for the offense of sexual assault by penetration contrary to Section 261 of the criminal law volume 3 laws of Lagos State 2015, is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge said.
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