Father of defiled girl held for rejecting settlement

While seven-year-old Aisha Muhammed is battling with injuries and mental torture inflicted on her by a 48-year-old man, Suleiman Adamu, of Agwan-Kasa, Jalingo metropolis of Taraba State, who allegedly raped the minor, father of the victim, Mohammed Barde, is reportedly held in Jalingo Custodian Centre for refusing to withdraw the rape case before the police.

Narrating her ordeal to newsmen in Jalingo, mother of the victim, Zainab Mohammed, said she could not fathom why the authorities instead of persuading the family, end up holding their breadwinner incommunicado for refusing out-of-court settlement.

With tears streaming down her eyes, she said the alleged rapist who live in the same rented compound with them in Agwan-Kasa, decided to lure her daughter into his room when she traveled to neighbouring Apawa village in Lau Local Government Area.

Zainab, who spoke in Hausa language via an interpreter, said: “When I returned home, I noticed that my daughter was lying down helplessly. On asking her what was wrong with her, she told me she had fever.”

The true picture of what took place in her absence however came to light when she sent her daughter on an errand. “I then discovered that her movement was not normal. She was staggering. That was when she finally revealed how she was raped by our co-tenant.”

The victim spent two days at the police clinic with about four drips administered on her. Zainab is not only calling for the immediate release of her husband, but also advocating for the perpetrator to be brought to book.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Human Rights Advocacy has vowed to ensure that justice is served on the matter. In a statement issued by its Director of Operation, Umar Lawan, the centre said: “We are reliably informed that medical investigation revealed that there was penetration on the victim’s private and that the rapist is HIV positive.”

In his reaction, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), David Misal, admitted that the case of sexual assault was reported and that the culprit had since been charged to court.