Farm labourer bags life jail for defiling 17-year old girl

For defiling a 17-year-old girl on a farm, Justice Abiola Siladoye of a Lagos Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court, has sentenced a man, Isiaka Adeoye to life imprisonment.

The judge, who found him guilty as charged by the state government, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The state prosecution team, Mr Olusola Soneye and Ms Abimbola Abolade had during the trial called three witnesses and tendered documents as exhibits.

They alleged that the defendant committed the offence on January 22, 2020, at Graceland Estate, Idimu, Lagos.

His offence was contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

While delivering judgment yesterday, the trial judge held that the testimony of the survivor corroborated evidence of the investigative police officer and the medical reports.

Justice Soladoye said there was no substantial contradiction to raise doubt, noting that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were coherent and unshakable.

According to the judge, the testimony of the survivor was believable as she eloquently and brilliantly told the court that the defendant had a condom on before he had sex with her, whereas the survivor said her aunt sent her to do some work for her at her farm.

The judge further held that the address of the defence, no matter how beautifully written, cannot amount to vindicating the charge of defilement that the defendant truly committed.

Also, the judge said the evidence before this court shows that the defendant forcefully had sex with the survivor as this is corroborated in the medical report that there were bruises in her vagina, which can be the result of the struggle between her and the defendant.

The court ordered that his name should be written in Lagos State Sexual Offenders’ Register.

The judge however advised the survivor to be sensitive, noting that there was a need for sexual education, moral re-awakening and training of underage children to maintain sexual purity in society.

“Lessons to the young ones here is that it is not good not to run errands for elderly ones, but the younger ones must be very careful not to fall prey in the hands of sexual predators.

“The survivor, in this case, was insensitive as a 17-year-old girl ought to be proactive and run for her life when she saw a condom on the penis of the defendant. Instead, she waited until the defendant forcefully had his way and had sex with her.

“There is a need to educate our young children more on sexual education as we now have more people parading as sexual predators in our society,” the court held.