A man
called Musa Jawara was Tuesday convicted and sentenced to 3 years in prison
with hard labour by the Brikama Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Magistrate
Nyima Samateh.
Musa Jawara, who was convicted for defilement of an underage girl, was also ordered to pay a compensation of D10,000 in default to serve another 1year in prison with hard labour.
Delivering her judgement, the trial magistrate told the court the accused person was brought before the court and charged with a single count of defilement of a girl under 18 years old.
She said the accused denied the charge and the prosecution called witnesses to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
She highlighted the evidence as adduced before the court and reached the conclusion that the prosecution had proven their case beyond all reasonable doubts.
She said that after the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, the accused person agreed he had sex with the complainant, as the complainant was his girlfriend and he was not the first man to have had sex with the complainant.
According to the magistrate, the accused stated his own evidence, saying he had sex with the complainant, letting the court believe the accused had sex with the complainant.
It was also indicated in the medical certificate that the complainant was defiled during the incident and the birth certificate also confirmed that the complainant was less than 18 years old.
The accused begged the court to temper justice with mercy.
