Court sentences father to 14 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter in Bayelsa

BY AHERHOKE OKIOMA

The High Court of Bayelsa State in Yenagoa has sentenced 41-year-old father Baridapsi Needam to 14 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter.

However, during the trial, the victim gave birth to a baby girl.

The accused, Mr. Needam, was charged in Suit No. YHC/14C/2022 with the offence of rape contrary to Section 1(1) of the Bayelsa State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2021.

The State Prosecutor and Deputy Director of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, told the court that investigations revealed that the accused, Needam, abused his daughter by inserting his fingers into her vagina as early as the age of seven. He had sexual intercourse with her from 2020 until she became pregnant in 2022.

In delivering the verdict, presiding judge DE Adokeme stated that the prosecution had presented credible evidence and referred to the DNA results which indicated with 99.99 percent certainty that the convicted man was the father of the child.

The court ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Needam committed the offence of rape and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

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Speaking after the verdict, Senior Prosecutor Pere Amanda Egbuson, Deputy Director, Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, said the verdict would serve as a deterrent to others who engage in such unthinkable acts, while stressing that it sent a clear message that the court would not tolerate such heinous acts.

She, however, thanked the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo SAN, for his immense support in conducting the DNA analysis to enable the prosecution to do justice in the prosecution of the case.

A well-known activist against violence against women and founder of the Do Foundation, Dr. Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, also commented on the development, saying that the state’s civil society organizations were happy with the court’s ruling.

According to her, “the state government through the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs, Children Affairs and Social Development and the Bayelsa State Gender Response Initiative Team has done a good job in protecting the victim and also the innocent baby. This should be a warning to all paedophiles to stay away from our children.”

Recall that convicted 18-year-old father, Baridap Needman, who hails from Ogani Wily Kaira Community in Ogoni, Rivers State, was brought to the police in 2022 by members of the state gender advocacy group, Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT), when a concerned neighbour noticed that the victim was five months pregnant and the father was responsible for the pregnancy.

The convicted father is said to have replaced his deceased wife with his daughter in his marital bed. While the 14-year-old girl, who attended Junior Secondary School 3, slept in bed with her father, her two younger brothers had to sleep on the floor.