A self-professed Muslim cleric, Mustapha Hammed, has been apprehended by the Lagos State Police Command after allegedly raping a female student of the College of Education, Akoka, Lagos.
Hammed, 23, was said to have raped the 29-year-old student in the Ikorodu area of the state under the guise of providing spiritual cleansing for her.
After having carnal knowledge of the victim, who was said to be a virgin, the cleric allegedly wiped the blood off from her private part with a white handkerchief.
Few days after the incident, the victim was said to have begun to bark like a dog, which alarmed her family members and led to the cleric’s arrest.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who paraded the suspect before news on Monday, said, “On July 12, a case of sexual assault by penetration was brought from Bariga Police Station to the Gender Section for further investigation.
“The suspect, Mustapha Hammed, who claims to be an Alfa, was introduced to the survivor through a mutual friend.
“The Alfa deceived the victim, saying he saw in a vision that she was going to die within 24 hours. He took the girl to Ikorodu, Lagos, for cleansing so that she would not die.
“At Ikorodu, he forcefully had canal knowledge of the girl who was a virgin and allegedly wiped off her blood with a white handkerchief. Since then her father alleged that the girl has been behaving abnormally because she was devastated and traumatised by the incident.”
The police boss said the command would soon charge the suspect to court.
Although he admitted having canal knowledge of the girl, the suspect denied cleaning the victim’s private part with white handkerchief.
He said, “I told her (victim) that during divination, I saw that she had a spiritual husband. She confirmed it and said that had been the cause of her problem. I told her she would need to undergo spiritual cleansing in my house at Ikorodu.
“When we got there, I instructed her to bathe and pray three times. After the first bath, I secretly put a live frog in her water. When she saw it, she ran out to inform me.
“I told her it was a bad omen and that the only solution was for her to sleep with a man. I told her to call her boyfriend, but she said I should sleep with her since he was far away.
“I did it because I love her and intend to marry her. But because she is my girlfriend’s friend, I couldn’t express my love for her. I did not clean the blood with a cloth.”