An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital, has sentenced a man, Sunday Oluwafemi, to life imprisonment for defiling a nine-year-old girl.
The convict was said to have been arrested for committing the offence in Akure in 2019.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the victim was the convict’s wife’s niece who lived with the family.
He was later arraigned on one count of rape.
According to the charge, the convict committed the offence on November 24, 2019, around 4pm in Akure, contrary to Section 31(1) of the Child’s Right Law, Laws of Ondo State, 2012, and sections 218 and 257 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State 2006.
After a series of arguments on the matter, Justice Yemi Fasanmi held that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge ruled, “The confessional statements of the defendant, both written and oral, with that of the medical doctor, showed without equivocation that he indeed committed the offence.
“The defendant betrayed the victim’s trust in him, looking at him as a father and also the trust of his brother-in-law, who saw him as a good guardian. The evidence of the charge was corroborated as there were several penetrations into the vault of the victim’s vaginal.
“I, therefore, hold that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the victim severally and it was not consensual. The mandatory provision is that once a defendant is found guilty of rape, he is liable to life imprisonment.
“Based on the above reasoning and in strict adherence to the provisions of the law, I have no alternative than to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment and I so hold. The sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution. He is convicted as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.”
