Court sentence three to life imprisonment for raping deaf woman

The Kebbi High Court 7, sitting in Birnin Kebbi and presided over by Justice Shamsudeen Jafar, has sentenced three people to life imprisonment for raping an 18-year-old married deaf woman. The convicts are Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar, and Bashar Dan-Inno of Wararin Zaromawa village.

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The Prosecution Counsel, Faridah Muhammad, in her submission, said the convicts, who were facing two counts of criminal conspiracy and rape, perpetrated the acts at Wararin Zaromawa village in Gwandu Local Government Area of the state.

“The defendants broke into the victim’s house while she was asleep and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her. They choked her with a thick piece of cloth and tied her hands with a rope before having carnal knowledge of her one by one,” she said.

The counsel prayed the court to convict the defendants as charged because the law imposed a mandatory sentence. She said criminal conspiracy and rape were offenses punishable under sections 259 and 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021.

The prosecution had earlier called three witnesses and tendered six exhibits, including both English and Hausa statements of the three prosecution witnesses, in support of her case.

The Defense Counsel, Ahmed Abubakar-Filgila, called the three convicts to give evidence and testify in their defense without tendering any documents or exhibits. The defense counsel prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.

In his judgment, Justice Jafar said the prosecution had established all the elements of carnal knowledge of the victim (name withheld). He said this was done through the corroborated statement of the victim and the first defendant, and found all their evidence uncontroverted by the defense.

“I am of the firm view that all the defendants conspired in perpetrating the act. Meanwhile, the convicts conspired and raped the victim, who is an 18-year-old deaf woman, at her husband’s residence. All ingredients needed to establish criminal conspiracy to commit rape were established beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution. The court has no option but to act upon the evidence before it,” he said.

The judge stated that the court holds the view that it has found the first, second, and third defendants guilty as charged.

“Having found you guilty of the charge, you Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar, and Bashar Dan-Inno, are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment for finding all of you guilty under sections 259 and 60 of Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021,” he declared.