A Judge at the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Justice Sybil Nwaka has convicted and sentenced a trader, Henry Egesi to three years imprisonment for raping a 19 years old girl in Lagos.
Justice Nwaka found Egesi, who sells rice in the Idimu area of the state, guilty of the one-count charge of rape brought against him by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions on behalf of Lagos State Government in 2019.
During the course of trial, the victim of the crime, name withheld, narrated her gruelling experience.
She said, “He removed my jeans with force and I was begging him that I have never done it before.”
She said on the day of the incident she had misplaced her mother’s N7,000, a fund given to her to run an errand.
The victim, who claimed to be a friend to Egesi, said that she visited the suspect to seek reimbursement and save her from being chastised by her mother. Rather than reimburse her, the victim said that Egesi abused her sexually.
“He said he won’t give me the money unless he had sex with me. He removed my jeans with force and I was begging him but he refused.
“After having sex with me, he gave me a tissue paper to clean up my blood. I was bleeding from my vagina. He also gave me the N7000 after he had sex with me.”
According to the Lagos State Solicitor-General, Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bey, the offence of rape is contrary to section 260 (1) of the Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State 2015.
Shitta-Bey submitted that all evidence tendered before the court confirmed that the defendant had an unlawful carnal knowledge of the victim.
She, however, urged the court to show no leniency in its sentencing of the convict.
Justice Nwaka found the convict guilty of the charge and thereby sentenced him to three years imprisonment without an option of fine.
(Leadership)
