Man sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter

June 29 (THEWILL) – The Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa has sentenced 41-year-old Baridapsi Needam to 14 years in prison for raping and impregnating his daughter.

However, the victim gave birth to a baby girl during the trial.

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

The prosecutor and deputy director of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, 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 and started having sex with her in 2020 until she became pregnant in 2022.

In delivering the verdict, presiding judge DE Adokeme stated 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.

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

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

Egbuson, however, thanked the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo SAN, 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, a well-known activist against violence against women and founder of the Do Foundation, Dr. Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, said that CSOs in the state were happy with the court’s ruling.

“The state government through the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs, Children Affairs and Social Development and the Bayelsa State Gender Response Initiative Team has done a good job in protecting the victim and also the innocent baby. This should sound like a warning to all paedophiles to stay away from our children,” she explained.

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 (GRIT) when a concerned neighbour noticed that the victim was five months pregnant and the father was responsible for the pregnancy.

The convicted man 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.

Amos Okioma is a correspondent at THEWILL