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

A Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa has sentenced 41-year-old Baridapsi Needam to 17 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter.

PUNCH Online learned that the victim gave birth to a baby girl during the trial.

Needam was charged in case number YHC/14C/2022 with rape contrary to Section 1(1) of the Bayelsa State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2021.

Prosecutor and Deputy Director of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, told the court that investigations revealed that the accused began raping his daughter when she was seven.

Egbuson said the accused began by inserting his fingers into the victim’s vagina until he started having sex with her in 2020 before she became pregnant in 2022.

Presiding Judge DE Adokeme said in his verdict 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.

Her words: “The prosecution presented credible evidence and pointed to DNA results that showed with 99.99 percent certainty that Needam is the father of the child.”

The court ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had committed the crime of rape and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

After the verdict was announced, Egbuson noted that the verdict would have a deterrent effect on others who commit such unimaginable acts, stressing that it sent a clear message that the court would not tolerate such heinous acts.

Egbuson said: “The verdict will serve as a deterrent to others who commit such unimaginable acts. It is a clear sign that the court will not tolerate such heinous acts.”

She, however, thanked the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for 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.

Also commenting on the development, Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, a well-known activist against violence against women and founder of the Do Foundation, said that CSOs in the state were happy with the court’s ruling.

According to her, “the state government through the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women, Children 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. This should sound like a warning to all paedophiles to stay away from our children.”

Needman, who hails from Ogani Wily Kaira Community in Ogoni, Rivers State, was reported to the police in 2022 by members of the state gender advocacy group Gender Response Initiative Team when a concerned neighbour noticed that the victim was five months pregnant and suspected that the father was responsible for the pregnancy.

The convict is said to have replaced his deceased wife with his 14-year-old daughter, who was incarcerated in JSS3, and slept with her in his marital bed while her two younger brothers had to sleep on the floor.