By Francis H. Murray
Madam Isata Jabbie Kabba, wife of former President Tejan Kabba and the 10th prosecution witness in the murder trial of Mariama Sajor Barrie and Ibrahim Bah for the alleged murder of 5-year old Khadija Saccoh has testified before Justice John Bosco Allieu and a 12 member jury.
Led in evidence by State lawyer Joseph A. K Sesay, the witness said she was at home on the 17th June 2020 when she received a call from Binta (mother of deceased) who told her that her daughter and her elder sister Isatu Jabbie Saccoh needed to go to Sierra Palms Hotel to have some ice cream.
Mrs. Kabba said she accepted and cautioned that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the children should not return home late. She added that later that day while she was praying, she got a call from Binta that the deceased had been taken to the hospital and the doctor had refused to attend to them, and that she should go there to check.
“I quickly picked up my car keys and while I rushed to the hospital, one Sallay called to say I shouldn't bother and that we had lost the Khadija,” she said.
According to her, she went to the house of the deceased and met the 1st accused and inquired about what had happened to the deceased because nobody had informed her at any time that the child was sick.
“The 1st accused said the deceased was not sick but had played the whole day and later came to ask her (1st accused) to carry her on her back. She then had a sudden attack and was taken to the hospital. So I called the father of the deceased to inform him that his daughter had died,’’ she noted.
The witness said she went back to the house the following day to further burial arrangements but got a call from the father of the deceased who insisted that an autopsy be done on his daughter's remains.
“I called 117 as it was the Covid-19 rules in order to get burial permit and a certain code was given. We later got the burial permit which was photocopied and a copy sent to the Kissy Road cemetery. But after a heated argument among family members, it was agreed that the autopsy examination be conducted,” she stated.
Madam Kabba said that at the end of the examination, the cause of death indicated that the deceased died of manual strangulation and that she was no longer a virgin. She said she was so devastated that she left for her house.
She said she called the police and explained to them what had happened and they were invited to the Lumley police station where statements were obtained from them and a medical request was issued for Rainbo Center.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Alhaji M Kamara on behalf of the 1st accused, the witness said she was part of the funeral arrangements from the outset and that she has a good relationship with the 1st accused.
Challenged that she had malice against the 1st accused which was why she had gone to testify, she denied having any grudges against her.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Emmanuel T Koroma for the 2nd accused, the witness said that Isata Jabbie Saccoh had been with her for 1-year 8 months but only got to know that she had been tampered with after the death of the deceased.
She added that she would not be surprised to know that Isata Jabbie Saccoh didn't mention anything of such nature during her testimony.
She denied having told any Sallay to collect a certain death certificate from any man but had instructed that nobody be allowed to see the body of the deceased at Columbia Davies Funeral home until parties from both parents were present.
Challenged that she instructed the police to arrest the 2nd accused, Mrs. Kabba denied but admitted to have insisted that the child be buried without any autopsy examination.
Also, the 9th prosecution witness Barbah Saccoh described himself as a Business man and admitted to knowing the father of the deceased as his cousin, the deceased as his cousin's late daughter whose death he said occurred on the 17th June 2020
He said he was home late at night on the 17th when he received a call from his cousin from the US that his daughter had died and upon receipt of the news, he went to Mrs. Kabba's house where other family members were already making funeral arrangements.
He said while there, he got a call from his cousin instructing them to stop all funeral arrangements until an autopsy was conducted on the deceased but the family was not pleased with the fact that the father didn't respect the decision of the elders of the family to bury the child.
He added that an agreement was reached for the autopsy to be conducted and it was found out that the deceased was strangled to death and also sexually penetrated.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Alhaji M Kamara for the 1st accused, the witness said the pathologist initially said he couldn't get the autopsy on the same day but postponed it to the next day.
He said he didn't remember any member of his family paying the pathologist to put the medical cause of death in their favor, stressing that the autopsy was conducted in the presence of both family members of the deceased.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Emmanuel T Koroma on behalf of the 2nd accused, the witness said he came to know the 2nd accused after the 17th of June 2020.
The matter was adjourned to Friday 19th February 2021.
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