Man jailed for raping and impregnating his 14-year-old daughter

A high court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State has sentenced a 41-year-old man to 17 years in prison for raping and impregnating his 14-year-old daughter.

Convict Baridapsi Needem was charged with rape, Punch newspaper reported reported on Saturday.

However, the newspaper did not disclose when the court announced the verdict against the man.

While the case was being heard in court, the survivor gave birth to a baby girl.

Prosecutor Pere Egbuson, Deputy Director of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, told the court that investigations had revealed that the convicted man began raping his daughter when she was seven years old.

The convict, Ms Egbuson said, first inserted his fingers into the survivor’s vagina, later had sex with her in 2020 and impregnated her in 2022.

Judge DE Adokeme was satisfied with the evidence and ruled that the prosecution had credible evidence, citing the DNA result which proved with 99.99 percent certainty that the convicted man was the father of the little girl who gave birth to his daughter.

Justice Adokeme said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Needem committed the offence and therefore sentenced him to 17 years in prison.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Ms Egbuson said the verdict would serve as a deterrent to others who might commit such acts, adding that the court had sent a clear message that it would not tolerate such acts.

She commended the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Biriyai Dambo for his immense support in conducting the DNA analysis to enable the prosecution to do justice in the prosecution of the case.

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According to the newspaper Punch, the convicted man hails from the Ogani Wily Kaira Community in Ogoni, Rivers State.

Members of the state’s Gender Response Initiative Team reported the convicted woman to the police in 2022 after a concerned neighbor noticed that the survivor was five months pregnant and suspected that he (the father) was responsible for the pregnancy.

Mr Needem reportedly replaced his late wife with his 14-year-old daughter, who was in JSS3, and slept with her in his marital bed while her two younger brothers had to sleep on the floor, the newspaper said.