A 37-year-old farmer, Joseph Agbomu, has been sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday by the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state Capital for raping his neighbour’s six-year-year old daughter
Penpushing reports that it recalled that the convict committed the offence on 18 March 2019, and had pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the court held that the victim’s testimony was convincing and truthful
The state counsel, T.L. Ogundare, had during the trial told the court that Agbomu raped the victim on 12 September 2018, at about 7:30 p.m. at Ijebu, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, an offence the prosecutor said contravened Sections 375, 378 of the Ondo State Criminal Code, 2006
Penpushing further reports that Ogundare informed the court that the survivor’s father reported a case of rape against the defendant, in the case the prosecutor called three witnesses, which included the survivor, her father and a police officer.
The judge, Justice Yemi Fasanmi delivering his judgement held that the prosecution proved its case against the convict beyond a reasonable doubt, adding that the convict inflicted physical, emotional and psychological trauma on the victim, who saw a fatherly figure in him as his father’s kinsman and friend.
Penpushing also reports that the judge emphasized that the victim’s evidence corroborated the evidence of the nominal complainant, her father, adding that the victim before the court how the convict sexually molested her
‘The survivor, in this case, narrated before this court that the convict, who was his father’s neighbour, sent her on an errand to buy a pack of indomie. The survivor said the convict cooked the indomie and gave her part of it. And shortly after eating, he pushed her to his bed and inserted his penis into her vaginal”, the judge noted.
Penpushing reports that the judge pointed out that the convict, in his extra-judicial statement obtained on 12 December 2019, confessed to the crime of having carnal knowledge of the survivor in his room, without using a condom, after taking a herbal alcoholic drink.
The judge noted that the child’s testimony was copiously corroborated by the convict’s confessional statement, while after Agbomu conviction, his counsel A.Y Aliu, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that no prior case of improper behaviour had ever been brought against the defendant.
Penpushing further reports that the counsel to the convict had earlier urged the court to discountenance the medical report, but in contrary view the state prosecutor argued that the law under which the defendant was charged does not give the court any discretion.
The prosecutor therefore, urged the court to impose the mandatory sentence stipulated in the law on the convict, and the judge, in his final verdict, convicted Agbomu and sentenced him to life imprisonment to serve as a deterrent to others, who might engage in such an act.
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