By Mohamed Foday Conteh
An eight-year-old girl has told the Model Sexual Offences Court sitting in Freetown of how she was sexually penetrated by one Joseph Lamin after she went out of her parents’ Waterloo home at night to urinate. Explaining her ordeal during the hearing of the matter on Monday 28 June 2021, the alleged victim said that on the 28th July 2020, she remembered the accused, Joseph Lamin, as the individual that sexually abused her.
She said that it was whilst urinating that she saw the accused and ran to hide behind the house where he and another unidentified person grabbed her. She then gave a graphic description of how she was penetrated by Lamin, aided by the unknown person.
The child told the court that she was taken to the hospital where she was treated and later discharged. She also added that during the incident both of her parents were inside the house asleep.
During cross-examination by Cyril Taylor-Young, Counsel for the accused, the child acknowledged that the accused was aided by another person.
The father of the child was the second witness called to the stand. Responding to Judge Momoh Jah Stevens’ scolding of him for improper parenting to the extent of not knowing of their child’s absence on the night of the incident, the father said he had a swollen arm and had taken some pills that placed him in deep sleep. However, he said that he noticed his daughter entering after the creaking of the door. He continued that when he enquired where she was coming, she told him that she went out to urinate.
The father said that he left his daughter who was looking sick at the time in the care of the mother as he went out to visit a friend the following morning. He said that it was at his friend’s place that he received a call from one soldier who said that they have in custody his phone with the accused.
Counsel for the accused, Taylor-Young proposed that the matter for which the accused was initially charged for was theft rather than rape. The father acceded to this. The father also told the court that he is guardian of two boys but only took them in after the said incident.
The third witness that took the stand was the mother of the girl, who said she is a businesswoman and narrated how in the morning she asked her daughter where she was, and what dirtied her clothes but that the child was reluctant to answer.
During cross- examination by State Counsel, Musa Pious Sesay Jr., the mother told the court the reason she persuaded her daughter was because she appeared weak and feeble. She said that her daughter started bleeding on their way to the police and was later advised to go to the hospital when her daughter’s condition deteriorated.
She told the court that she had never met the accused before and that her daughter had cause to spend 1 month and 2 weeks at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital also known as Cottage for treatment as a result of the alleged penetration. The accused was remanded at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre. The case resumes today Wednesday 30 June 2021.
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