By Francis H. Murray
Magistrate Abdul Sheriff of Court Number 3 at Pademba Road has released on bail one Mohamed Samura, who is accused of raping his girlfriend, after the woman’s testimony in the ongoing preliminary investigation.
Samura, who is in his early forties, was admitted to a Le40million bail with a further requirement that “sureties of reputable standing in society” guarantee the bond.
Prosecutors allege that on a date between November 2017 and June 2019, the accused sexually penetrated a child of 17 years, contrary to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act No 12 of 2012.
Led in evidence by ASP 9939 Momoh Lahai, the witness told the court that she had a love relationship with the accused, which started in 2017. She narrated that they first met when the accused went to buy rice at a local restaurant where she said he told her that he wanted her “for some serious relationship”.
She said on the same day he asked her to visit him at his house.
“When I arrived there, I met a woman outside who directed me to his room. I found him sitting on his bed, wearing a ‘boxer’ underpants and he asked me to sit on the bed, which I did. He asked me to kiss him and I did. After that he removed my bra and his boxer and I removed my pants and he climbed on top of me and had sex with me,’’ the witness said.
She said the accused gave him Le20, 000 afterwards and that since then, she had been visiting him until 2019 when she realized she was pregnant.
‘‘When I told him that I was pregnant, he promised to come to the house, after a two-day delay, he did come to see my mother and was told about my pregnancy. He consented to being in a love relationship with me and said he would be responsible for everything, except the pregnancy. He said he was ready to go anywhere even up to courts.”
The alleged victim further explained that her mother got angry after the accused denied responsibility for the pregnancy and reported the matter to the Kissy Police Station, where she (the witness) was issued a police medical form for her to be examined at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, PCMH.
Under cross examination by defense Lawyer Julian Cole, she admitted that she had been sexually penetrated in 2014 and that the matter was brought before the court. She said she has a child born in August 2016.
The witness told the court that she could not tell how old she was or which class she was in when she had her first sexual experience. She said her mother told her that she was born in 2003. She said she gave birth after the first sexual penetration.
Lawyer Cole accused the witness of not been truthful to the court because she told the police that she started a relationship with the accused in November of 2017 but now wanted the court to believe that the relationship started in February of that same year. The witness replied that the documents before the court about her age should be revisited for clarification.
The case has been adjourned.
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