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

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

“The accused broke into the victim’s house while she was sleeping and forcibly performed sexual intercourse on her. They strangled her with a thick piece of cloth and tied 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 in support of its case, including statements from the three prosecution witnesses in both English and Hausa.

Defence counsel Ahmed Abubakar-Filgila asked the three convicts to give their testimony and defend themselves without producing any documents or evidence. The defence counsel asked the court to do justice with mercy.

In his verdict, Justice Jafar said the prosecution had proved all the elements of the sexual intercourse of the victim (name withheld). He said this was done through the corroborated statements of the victim and the first accused and he found that all their evidence was not refuted by the defence.

“I firmly believe that all the accused conspired to commit the crime. In the meantime, the convicts conspired and raped the victim, an 18-year-old deaf woman, in her husband’s residence. All the ingredients required to establish a criminal conspiracy to commit rape have been established beyond doubt by the prosecution. The court is left with no option but to act on the basis of the evidence before it,” he said.

The judge stated that the court was of the opinion that the first, second and third defendants were found 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 sections 259 and 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code, 2021,” he stated.