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

The High Court of Bayelsa State, sitting in Yenagoa, has sentenced Baridapsi Needam to 14 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter.

The Saturday Telegraph reported that the victim gave birth to a baby girl as a result of the 41-year-old’s repeated rape.

Delivering the verdict on Friday, presiding judge DE Adokeme said the prosecution had presented credible evidence and pointed to DNA results which indicated with 99.99 percent certainty that the convicted man was the father of the child.

He ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Needam had committed rape and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

The State Prosecutor and Deputy Director of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, had told the court that investigations revealed that the accused began to rape his daughter when she was seven years old by inserting his fingers into her vagina. He started having sex with her in 2020 until she became pregnant in 2022.

Also, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Bayelsa State, Biriyai Dambo, had earlier charged the defendant in Suit No. YHC/14C/2022 with rape contrary to Section 1(1) of the Bayelsa State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2021.

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

However, she thanked the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice for his immense support in conducting the DNA analysis to enable the prosecution to do justice in the prosecution of the case.

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

According to her, “The state government through its Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women, Children Affairs and Social Development and the Bayelsa State Gender Response Initiative Team has done a good job in ensuring the safety of the victim and the innocent baby.

Recall that the convicted person, who hails from Ogani Wily Kaira Community in Ogoni, Rivers State, was reported to have been reported 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.

He 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.

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