Defilement: Go And Spend Your Life In Prison, Judge Tells Convict

Justice Rahman Oshodi of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sent a man, Rasheed Wasiu, to life imprisonment for having sexual intercourse with his neighbour's eleven-year-old daughter (name withheld).

Justice Oshodi took the decision after convicting Wasiu of the charge of defilement made against him by the Lagos State Government (LASG). 

In his judgment, Justice Oshodi, who declared that the offence of defilement is grave and attracts a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, maintained that Wasiu told lies during his evidence before the court.

According to Justice Oshodi, “Notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence against you, you continued to deny your offence. At sentencing, you showed no remorse.

“The evidence shows that you had sexual intercourse with an eleven-year-old girl. 

“She was your neighbour’s daughter. She was, to your knowledge, a child. You grabbed her in the toilet, pushed her to the wall and had sexual intercourse with her in a beastly manner. 

“This is unacceptable. You must be ashamed and punished according to the mandatory sentence.  

“Therefore, the sentence I pass upon you is one of life imprisonment. 

“You shall be registered as a sex offender in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.”

According to the charge marked LD/8444C/2018, dated December 7, 2018, the state government accused the convicted Wasiu of defiling the survivor on or about March 9, 2018, at about 8:00 pm in Apapa, Lagos.

The prosecution had further informed the judge that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. 

Wasiu pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was arraigned before Justice Oshodi on December 10, 2021.

While the trial lasted, the counsel for the convict, Yusuf Oyebanji, had in his argument before Justice Oshodi urged the court to discharge and acquit Wasiu on the ground that the prosecution was unable to establish the guilt of his client beyond a reasonable doubt and that the defence of alibi deflates the defilement allegation. 

But the state government through its lawyer, Babajide Boye, insisted that it produced direct eyewitness and circumstantial evidence to justify the defendant’s conviction for defilement. 

In his declaration, Justice Oshodi who held that in criminal law, the prosecution must establish a crime against the defendant, referred to Section 135 (1) of the Evidence Act 2011, to state that the standard of proof is beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Oshodi said: “Each element of this crime must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. Any doubt must be resolved in favour of the defendant.

“The charge of defilement occurs when a person has sexual intercourse with a child. A child cannot consent to sexual activities.

“In law, where a witness testifies on a material fact in controversy, in this case, whether the prosecutrix was a child, and the defence does not cross-examine the witnesses on this point, I can consider the silence as acceptance that the defendant does not dispute the fact.

“There is consistent evidence that the prosecutrix (PW3) was eleven as of March 2018, when the events that led to this prosecution occurred. I have accepted this as accurate.

“Accordingly, I judge that the prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that the prosecutrix (PW3) was a child as of March 2018. 

“It is undisputed that the prosecutrix (PW3) and the defendant lived in the same house.

“The crime scene is the general toilet in the house. It is in the backyard. The IPO (PW2) described it to the court’s satisfaction. He said he visited it. 

“He stated that the bathroom was beside the toilet, and they were both dark because there was no lighting in the backyard. 

“The prosecutrix (PW3) explained that she went to the toilet because she was pressed.”

The judge threw out the defence of alibi and insisted that the prosecution had proved the charge of defilement against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.

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