By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Mohamed Conteh, a 56 year-old man who is on trial for alleged sexual abuse of a then 17 year-old girl described as his daughter since sittings on the case began, has told Justice Momoh-Jah Stevens that the girl is not his ‘biological daughter’.
Conteh, a mechanic,made the claim as he testified at the Sexual Offences Model Court in Freetown on Friday 22 October this year, over allegations of incest levied on him by the State.
He was arraigned in court for a crime that he was accused of having started since 2017 and continued to August last year.
The prosecution led in a total of two witnesses including the victim and one of the Police investigators in the matter.
The victim told the judge that her father had sex with her at hotels in Lungi and Kambia, two towns where she was taken for exorcism for alleged witchcraft accusation heaped upon her by the accused. She claimed to have been abandoned and left with traditional healers in both Lungi and Kambia.
The Police investigator said that they went to the hotels in question in Lungi and Kambia and found panties that belonged to the victim. The officer also produced two endorsed medical request forms on the physicality and pregnancy of the girl after she reportedly got pregnant as a result of the sexual abuse. She later gave birth at the Aberdeen Women’s Centre in Freetown but =the baby died.
Lawyer Sesay closed his case on Friday 22 October, making reference to one of the endorsed medical forms that stated the girl got impregnated. He said that the prosecution has provided enough evidence to convict the father.
The defence led by Cecil Campbell opened their case with the accused Conteh as first Defence Witness (DW1).
The accused said that the whole issue started in 2016 when he was evicted from his Juba residence and had to plead with one of his friends to grant him a room for two of his daughters and the victim.
Conteh claimed he has only three biological daughters and that the victim was not one of them. He told the judge that he only knew her when she was five months old. He said the mother of the girl who was his girlfriend had left her in his living room early in the morning of 2001, but later came with four people to take custody of her again.
During cross-examination, the accused said that he and the mother of the victim had an intimate affair and even had a child who passed away some time ago. He told the judge that the victim used to carry another surname until age nine.
He admitted to have stayed with the girl at a certain guest house in Kambia for seven months but was never aware she was pregnant in 2020, until March this year. He denied having a fight with her while they were staying in the guest house in Kambia.
In re-examination by the defence lawyer, Conteh said the girl used to carry a ‘Johnson’ surname and not his.
Justice Stevens adjourned the matter to the 1st November 2021 with Conteh remanded in prison. The defence intend to bring in more witnesses in the matter to testify for the accused.
Copyright © Politico Online 25/10/21
