Anambra: Court dismisses student for multiple rapes

The Awka Children, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Court has discharged and acquitted 20-year-old Michael Arinze, accused of raping three young ladies in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area of ​​Anambra State.

Arinze, a Level 200 student of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, was charged in July 2022 but pleaded not guilty to the eight counts of rape and armed robbery.

The prosecution explained that the offenses contravened Section 5 of the Anambra State Prohibition of Violence Against Persons Act, 2017 and Section 347 of the Penal Code (Cap 36 Vol.). II Revised Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria 1991 as amended.

The defendant, who has been in custody for 21 months, is accused of raping his victims, two aged 21 and the third aged 22, at gunpoint and robbing them of their mobile phones and money.

The prosecution alleged the offenses were committed on April 5, July 8 and July 15, 2022, respectively.

When announcing the verdict, Justice of the Peace Otti explained that the witness statements presented by the public prosecutor were contradictory.

Otti further said that the prosecution’s evidence did not match the defendant’s confession statement.

“No independent witness testified to corroborate the prosecution’s story, no doctor was called as a witness to corroborate medical reports, nor was any medical report presented to prove the prosecution’s case.

“In criminal cases, the court does not focus on speculation but on credible, important and relevant evidence.

“The defendant’s guilt has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I find the defendant not guilty and the defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted,” she said.