CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
A factory worker, Kazeem Adedayo, will now spend the rest of his life in prison custody for inserting his fingers into the private private of an 11-year-old girl in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, who convicted and sentenced Adedayo to life imprisonment for inserting his fingers into the private part of his neighbour’s daughter.
Justice Soladoye sent Adedayo to jail in her judgment, where she ruled that the state had successfully proven the charge of sexual assault by penetration brought against him.
The prosecution team led by the Lagos State Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Olusola Shoneye, told the Court that the convict committed the offence on 12th January, 2018, at about 2pm on Markati Lane, Oshodi, Lagos State, and the offence of Sexual assault by penetration violated Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The prosecutor called three witnesses during the trial to prove her case while the defence called two witnesses, including the convict.
In her landmark judgment, Justice Soladoye held that evidence from the survivor corroborated the medical report tendered by the prosecution that she suffered repeated penetration.
She said, “Evidence of the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) was also crucial in this case”.
“The testimony of the survivor was truthful as she identified the defendant as ‘Baba Jamal’ and also gave a vivid account of how he inserted his fingers into her vagina while fetching water in the compound.”
“A medical examination, which was carried out by Dr Oyedeji Alagbe, also revealed a reddened and bruised vagina as the hymen was almost obliterated.’’
Justice Soladoye further held that the prosecution proved the ingredients of the case against the defendant, saying that the survivor could not have consented to any sexual act with the defendant.
“I hereby find the defendant guilty as charged, and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” Soladoye held.
The judgment may have finally defined sexual penetration to include using fingers or any object that was used in sexual assault on victims.