ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A 35-year-old man Idris Hassan has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl in Delta State.
The convict was arraigned before the Delta State High Court, sitting in Asaba, on a one-count charge of rape, punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Law Cap C21 Vol. 1 Laws of the Delta State of Nigeria 2006.
He was, on 22 August 2022, alleged to have had unlawful carnal knowledge of the minor and had pleaded not guilty of the charge.
The prosecution led by the Director of Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence and Childs’ Rights Unit in the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Patricia Akamagwuna, called six witnesses and tendered confessional statement of the convict, who was a gate man to a neighbour of the minor.
The prosecution told the court that the minor was at home with her two elder siblings when the defendant lured her to take biscuits and after that, forced himself on her.
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According to the prosecutor, the minor’s neighbour caught the defendant in the act and was subsequently arrested by Police Officers from the ‘B’ Division, Asaba.
In his defence, the defendant denied the charge and retracted the confessional statement. He said that there was no sexual contact between him and the minor.
In his judgement, the trial judge, Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro, said he believed the evidence of the prosecution.
He noted that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Subsequently, the court sentenced the convict to life imprisonment.