A school bus driver, Michael Mowete, was on Tuesday sentenced to life in prison for defiling a three-year-old girl.
Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court held that the prosecution discharged the burden of proof against Mowete and hence convicted him.
Oshodi, in his judgment, said, “The convict’s allegation of having an amorous relationship with the mother of the victim in her shop does not hold water.
‘’One of the defence witnesses, the school bus assistant, told the court that the convict was always in the bus whenever they dropped off the minor at her mother’s shop.”
He held that the prosecution gave direct evidence, as the survivor, despite her age, narrated to the court how the convict defiled her.
The judge said the evidence of the minor was corroborated with her mother’s and the medical examination evidence while the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) gave circumstantial evidence.
He said, “The mother of the survivor, in her evidence, said that on September 27, 2019, the bus driver dropped her daughter off and that her daughter told her, ‘Mummy! Mummy! Uncle Michael touched my bumbum and jumped on me.’
“The mother said she thought it was just an ordinary touch until she wanted to bathe her daughter at night and that she started shouting when water touched her private parts.
“In spite of the survivor’s age, she demonstrated to the court, repeated how the defendant defiled her, and said in her evidence, ‘Uncle Michael touched my bumbum and he jumped on me.’
“The defence, in its final written address, argued that the survivor was coached, but the evidence before this court does not show this.
‘’The defendant, in his evidence, said that he was alone with the survivor on the day of the incident, and this corroborates the evidence of the mother, that on September 27, 2019, the driver solely brought her child home at 6pm as against the 3pm which she usually returned home.”
Oshodi also said that the medical examination revealed recently repeated blunt force penetration of the vagina.
He noted that the defendant’s reliance on a call log as a means of sexual communication between himself and the survivor’s mother could not be established because no evidence was produced in regards to that.
The judge also noted that the amorous relationship between the defendant and the survivor’s mother was a lie, and that even if it was true, it did not negate the fact that the prosecution had established the charge of defilement against him.
Oshodi consequently sentenced Mowete to life imprisonment and ordered that his name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
He said, “Michael Mowete, this court has found you guilty of the charge of defilement.
“You have defiled a child, barely three years of age, and you attempted to traumatise her family by fabricating that you had an amorous relationship with her mother.
“The mother of the child told this court that urine comes out of her daughter’s vagina every 15 to 30 minutes, and this shows how far damage you have done to the child.
“You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment and you shall serve the remainder of your term in the maximum correctional centre.”
Mr Babajide Boye, who prosecuted the case, called four witnesses, and the defence counsel also called four witnesses.
(NAN)
