Court sentences three people to life imprisonment for raping a deaf woman

The Kebbi High Court 7 in Birnin Kebbi, presided over by Justice Shamsudeen Jafar, has sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for the rape of an 18-year-old married woman (deaf).

The convicts are Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar and Bashar Dan-Inno from the village of Wararin Zaromawa.

In her statement, Prosecutor Faridah Muhammad said the convicts, who are facing two counts of criminal conspiracy and rape, committed the crime in Wararin Zaromawa village in Gwandu Local Government Area.

“The accused had broken into the victim’s house while she was sleeping and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her. They had strangled her with a thick piece of cloth and tied both her hands with a rope before having sexual intercourse with her one after the other,” she said.

The lawyer prayed the court to convict the defendants as charged because the law provides for mandatory punishment. She said criminal conspiracy and rape are offences punishable under sections 259 and 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021.

The prosecution had previously called three witnesses and presented six pieces of evidence containing statements from the three prosecution witnesses in English and Hausa to support their case.

Defence lawyer Ahmed Abubakar-Filgila asked the three convicts to give their testimony and testify in their defence without presenting any documents or evidence.

The defense attorney asked the court for mercy for justice.

In his verdict, Judge Jafar said the prosecution had established all evidence of sexual intercourse with the victim (name withheld).

He said she had achieved this through a joint statement from the victim and the first defendant and had concluded that the defence had not refuted their evidence.

“I am firmly convinced that all the accused were involved in the crime. In the meantime, the convicted persons raped the victim, an 18-year-old deaf and married woman, in her husband’s apartment.

“All the ingredients necessary to prove a criminal conspiracy to commit rape have been established beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution. The court has no choice but to act on the basis of the evidence before it,” he said.

The judge similarly said that the court was of the opinion that it had found the first, second and third defendants guilty as charged.

“Having been found guilty of the charge, you, Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar and Bashar Dan-Inno are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment as you are all found guilty under Section 259 and Section 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code, 2021,” he stated.

(NAN)