A six-year-old girl has narrated how she was allegedly defiled by an herbal doctor, Sangosanya Boluwatife, in the Igbogbo, Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
Boluwatife is standing trial before Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court.
He was arraigned before the court in September 2020 for defilement, which contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law, C.17 Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
The charge read, “Sangosanya Boluwatife, on or about June 6, 2020, at Oreta, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos, in the Ikeja judicial division, defiled one (name withheld) aged six, by having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecution presented two witnesses, who testified against Boluwatife.
During the Monday sitting, the prosecuting counsel, A.R Abolade, led the victim through her account of the incident.
She said, “I stay with my grandma, but my mummy usually takes me to stay with the defendant.
“On a particular day when we were alone in the defendant’s apartment, there was no electric power and the defendant asked me to pull off my clothes and pants. He said that I would like what he was about to do to me and later, I couldn’t hear what he was saying as he was talking very low.
“He put his hand in my private parts and after a while, he asked me to go and have my bath. I didn’t tell my mummy when she came to pick me up afterward, but I told my grandma and she informed my mum.”
The defense counsel, O.A. Lawal, while cross-examining the child, said, “Has anyone ever touched your private parts before, and was it painful?”
The victim answered in the negative.
“That means you enjoyed it,” Lawal added.
Justice Soladoye objected to the question and urged the council to be sensitive.
“Did you like what the defendant did or shout while he did it to you?” he queried.
The victim again replied in the negative.
The judge adjourned further hearing till June 4, 2022.
