The days of rapists and defilers of minors are over – so implies Justice O.H. Oshodi of the High Court in Lagos who recently sentenced an Islamic Cleric to life in prison for defiling an 8-year-old girl.
The cleric, Isah Mustapha, was sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, for having carnal knowledge of the minor.
The victim, who cannot be named because of her age, in her statement, accused the convict of having carnal knowledge of her in his house in 2017 when her mother sent her on an errand.
Hear her story: “When I was about to get to our apartment, the defendant called me back saying he wanted to send me to my mother to collect onions from her and bring to him downstairs. So, I went upstairs to collect the onions, which my mother gave me to give to the defendant downstairs. After handing the onions to Mustapha and I was about to return to our house, he called me back, saying he was not done sending me on errand. He said I should enter his house, but I said no. I later entered so that he would not tell my father that I disobeyed him. He then said I should take off my pant, but I said no. He later took it off himself and his trousers too, then he slept on me. He put his private parts inside me and had sex with me”.
Like all children, she did not immediately tell her mother when she got home but the woman discovered bloodstains on her daughter’s dress during at laundry time and questions started flying back and forth. That was how everything came to light.
But as usual, Mustapha the convict, like all rapists do, denied having sex with the minor but admitted sending her on errand, saying shamelessly that he only inserted his finger in her private part but did not defile her. Pray, what does ‘inserting finger’ mean? However, the defence counsel, M.O. Ifarinde, pleaded with Justice Oshodi to temper justice with mercy as her client was a first offender.
The prosecuting counsel, B.T. Boye, on the other hand, was sure of the case he was handling and asked the judge to hand the maximum sentence to the defendant to serve as a deterrent to others.
Judge Oshodi was in no mood for any nonsense and in spite of the plea for leniency, sentenced the Mustapha to life imprisonment.
The action of the Judge should serve as a guide to his colleagues and prosecutors who are seen to sometimes be too lenient with those who defile minors. Even rape of adults is not taken seriously by the operators of the law and legal system.
Reporting a case of rape every so often makes the victims become laughing stock because the police is sometimes said not to take such reports seriously, hence such people prefer to suffer in silence and carry the pain and mental torture of the event for life.
Parents of minors are also guilty of keeping quiet so as not to attract what they feel is unwanted attention to their families. We need to commend the parents of this Lagos minor for taking the bull by the horn and going the full hog to test the provisions of the law.
Some States Houses of Assembly have of recent debated even making capital punishment as penalty for rape but there are usually protests over such proposals. No law is too tough to mete out to someone who scars a woman, especially a minor, for life. That is what rape is.
Rapes of minors have been on the increase in Nigeria. A week hardly goes by without any report of rape of children; even babies have not been left out of this horrendous crime. This has prompted the calls for a paedophile register and the naming and shaming of those found guilty. But this will be a long time coming in Nigeria.
Family members have been seen as those most involved, with fathers, uncles and even brothers increasingly coming into the spotlight. Of course rape of adults is also an epidemic and senior citizens or grandmothers have also been victims of the crime
But kudos to Judge Oshodi and other judicial officers like him. It is men like him that should receiving honours and awards, not the ‘receive as you pay’ awards that have flooded the system and society. Maximum punishment is the only deterrent. Every hand must be on deck to stop this epidemic.
IMAGE CREDIT: indianexpress.com
Indeed, every hand must be on deck.
We also need to include remedial measures in the handling of cases like this.
While the convict is jailed for life, what becomes of the victim scarred with his criminality.
And the incarcerated offender, it is hoped that his incarceration would be profitable to him
You raised some valid points. But I guess it’s step by step. The society’s orientation towards rape victims has to first change with the support of the judicial and legal pronouncements like this.