is walking free – Woman laments
A 32-year-old woman simply identified as Funmi,
who alleged that her husband had on many
occasions raped their 4-year-old daughter,
Rebecca, in their home in Igando area of Lagos
state, has reportedly raised alarm that her
husband had been released without prosecution.
It was earlier in the news that Funmi had in
October, reported the case that her husband, a
37-year-old mechanic, identified simply as
Thompson, sexually abused her daughter till she
lost her voice.
She alleged that apart from having sexual
intercourse with the little girl on several
occasions, she had caught her husband inserting
his finger into the private part of the girl more
than once, all of which had traumatised Rebecca
to the point where she could no longer talk.
For reporting the case, Funmi said her husband
threatened her, forcing her to move out of his
house and that since then, she and her children
had been living in fear of what Thompson might
do to them.
Funmi said, “With all that he did, I thought he
would face the law. I thought he would be
prosecuted for the abominations he had
committed.
“Now, I look over my shoulder anytime I walk on
the street. I always tell my children to be careful
too. Who knows what he is planning against us?
“I fear for my life and that of my children now.
After he was released, he went to the school of
my children and attempted to take them from
there, but the teacher did not release them to
him. I did not even know he was released until
they told me he visited the school.”
She said Rebecca is gradually regaining her
voice.
Funmi, who alleged that her separated husband
was diabolical, recounted that the sexual abuse
of their daughter started when the girl was two
years old.
According to her, “It started in 2013 when I
suddenly woke up one night and saw my husband
removing the panties of my daughter. It was in
the midnight. I wanted to shout but I wanted to
see what he was up to. So, I acted like I didn’t
see him because the room was relatively dark.
“When he pulled down her panties, he looked
around and when he felt convinced that everyone
was deep asleep, he stood up and moved to
where the girl was and dipped his hand in her
private part. I screamed,” Funmi lamented.
The case was reported to the Lagos State Office
of the Public Defender, OPD, where a lawyer was
assigned to handle the case.
However, two months after she reported the
case, she said she is surprised that he has been
released.
Meanwhile, when the spokesperson for the OPD,
Mr. Adeoba Adeniji-Adele, was contacted, reports
say he said he would need to make findings
about the status of the case before giving the
agency’s official comment on the case.
“Nobody told me anything about the case,”
Funmi said.
The complainant told The Punch that efforts to
get an explanation from the lawyer assigned to
her case has been abortive.
The Director of the Esther Child Rights
Foundation, Esther Ogwu, who reported the case
to the OPD, explained that the case might have
been destroyed by the police when it was
transferred to the Department of Criminal
Investigation in the state.
She said, “I can say with confidence that the
problem could not have come from the OPD
because they don’t waste time in handling
terrible cases like this.
“The police were the ones who released him
without prosecution. They even called the
woman a liar for reporting that her husband
raped his own daughter when she was invited to
come and give her statement.
“It is unfortunate the woman is no longer safe
now. She told us that she now runs from one
place to another in fear of her husband. I feel
sad when things like these happen in our country
and the culprits go scot-free,” Ogwu added.
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