A medical doctor, Dr Alagbe Oyedeji, on Wednesday told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court that his findings revealed that the 10-year-old girl was defiled.
The police charged a middle-aged Islamic cleric, Bashiru Obasekere, with luring a 10-year-old pupil with N200 and defiling d her.
Oyedeji who works with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), being led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Mrs Arinola Momoh-Ayokanbi, said the pupil also gave a verbal account of how she was defiled while he was conducting the examination on her.
Oyedeji who is also a consultant at the Mirabel Centre said: “I do not know the defendant, I was invited to interprete the report I wrote and signed concerning a 10-year-old female referred to me at the centre in August 2017.
“In my report, the client gave a verbal account that a man, a neighbour called Alfa, used to send her on errands.
“Whenever she returns, he would lay her on the bed, remove her clothes and sexually assault her and will give her N200 to N300,” Oyedeji said.
The doctor said that a medical examination he conducted on the pupil corroborated her account of the alleged defilement.
“She was clinically stable with no physical injuries. On my systemic examination, there were areas of redness and on the hymen, there were extensive lacerations.
“The findings are also consistent with the client’s account,” he said.
While being cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr O. O. Olofinlade, Oyedeji said the defendant defiled the student over a period of three years.
Read Also:Gunmen abduct former Jalingo NBA Chairman
Earlier, Sgt. Betty Coker, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the case while being led in evidence by Momoh-Ayokanbi, said the alleged defilement was revealed by the pupil to her mother.
“The mother (name withheld) said she was not aware that the defendant was having sexual intercourse with her child.
“During my investigation, I visited the scene of the alleged crime and following the results of the medical report, the suspect was detained in the cell for further investigation. The matter was taken to court the next day,” she said.
The IPO, while being cross-examined by Olofinlade, also affirmed that the cleric was fond of defiling the pupil under the guise of sending her on errands.
“In the course of my investigations, I visited the scene of the crime and I noticed that the apartments of the complainant and the defendant were far apart.
“I was wondering what connected them, but when I ashed from the complainant’s mother, she said the defendant would call her daughter from their apartment to his apartment to send her on errands.
The prosecutor, thereafter, told the court that following the testimonies of four prosecution witnesses, the state would be closing its case against the cleric.
NAN reports that Obasekere is facing a charge of defilement, contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2015.
The offence was allegedly committed between 2014 and 2017 in Lagos.
Justice Abiola Soladoye adjourned the case until May 21, for continuation of trial. (NAN)