The murder trial of Sulayman Ceesay yesterday commenced at the Special Criminal Court with state witnesses making startling and shocking revelations.
Mr. Ceesay, who hails from
Dembo Ceesay, one of the prosecution witnesses, explained that after receiving news of the death of Adama Jatta, he wasted no time in joining the rest of the villagers to search for the dead body.
Still testifying, Mr. Ceesay informed the special court that after a large number of people gathered at the village school, he (Dembo) borrowed a cell phone and dialed the former phone number of the deceased, but there was no answer.
"I continued to ring the number, and eventually I heard the sound of a ringing tone deep in an over-crowded bush and, as I searched further I found the mobile stationed within the bush," he adduced.
According to Mr. Ceesay, a further search was mounted around the mobile phone and, eventually, the deceased person's pair of shoes and newly-harvested heap of rice (scattered all over) were also found.
He said that to his dismay, he saw the late Adama lying naked, with her head cut off, while some parts of her flesh were cut off and roasted.
He further explained that somewhere around the corpse a hole was dug, where they found a pair of scissors, knife, an oversized dark spectacle and pair of shoes.
According to him, at that juncture he heard shouts from the surroundings by women, repeatedly saying "here he is." But, he said, after a frantic effort, the culprit was nowhere to be found during the night.
Mariama Bojang, another state witness, also disclosed that the same accused person had chased her in the same area, three days before the incident.
According to an Islamic scholar, Tamsir Mbey, the accused Sulayman Ceesay was spotted at a nearby village in Latriya by his wife, Amie Mbey, early in the morning, naked and shouting Kurrto, Kurrto, meaning trousers in Mandinka.
He said that he provided the accused with trousers to wear, which he identified as the one he was wearing in the dock.
Meanwhile, yesterday the state indicted two others namely, Lamin Ceesay and Kalilu Bojang, on charges of murder. They were arraigned before the Special Criminal Court of the High Court in
Lamin Ceesay is accused of the murder of one Gibril Njie on 4th October 2009, at Kerr Sering, by hitting him with a pestle on his head, knowing that death was the probable consequence of such act.
Lamin Ceesay, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, had his case adjourned to 22nd February 2010.
Kalilu Bojang was indicted for allegedly committing murder sometime in 2009, at
However, the accused, Kalilu Bojang, was not in court and the trial judge, Justice Moses Richards, subsequently adjourned the case to 25th February 2010 for him to be brought before the court.
