The Special Criminal Court in
Delivering the judgment, Justice Nkea stated that the convict, Alasanna Touray, was arraigned before the court, charged with rape.
The particulars of the offence read that on 25th January 2011, at Banjulding village, the convicted person had canal knowledge of an under-aged girl.
The trial judge added that the prosecution had called five witnesses, and tendered two exhibits.
He quoted the victim’s testimony as saying: “When I was sent to the convicted person’s house to borrow a wheel-barrow, he invited me to his house and took me to his matrimonial bed, where he inserted his penis into my vagina, and blood started to ooze from my vagina.”
Justice Nkea stated that the medical examination conducted at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital confirmed that sexual intercourse took place between the victim and the accused person.
The trial judge added that the prosecution could not prove that the sexual intercourse that took place between the parties was not based on mutual consent, but force.
Meanwhile, the accused person had denied in his statement that he raped the minor; that instead it was the minor herself who pulled his hand to the bed, paving the way for the sexual intercourse, the judge continued.
He said he believed that the convicted person had canal knowledge of the victim; and that it was not in dispute that blood had oozed from the vagina of the victim, as supported by the medical report.
Justice Nkea added that he holds that a minor of 12 years old could not cajole an old man of this age to do something contrary to his will.
Consequently, after the plea of mitigation by the defence counsel, the trial judge proceeded to pass the sentence.
Sentence
In passing sentence, the judge stated that offences of this nature are becoming rampant, adding that despite the convict was a first-time offender, and is an old man, such a practice should not be entertained in any decent society.
He said for a man of this dotage to sleep with a child who is fit to be his grand-child, “is a very bad habit and cannot be condoned and this will serve as a deterrent”, the judge declared.
