Man 28, arraigned for raping eight-year-old girl

A twenty-nine year old man, Kelechi Ebere, was on Friday arraigned before an Umuahia Magistrate Court for allegedly raping an eight-year-old primary three pupil, whom he used a children musical video to lure into his one-room apartment.



The man, who is the manager of a public toilet owned by the Foodstuff Retailers and Traders Union Umuahia Ibeku (FRATU) at Goods Shed Market, Umuahia, pleaded not guilty before the presiding magistrate, Mrs. Eunice Ezebuiro.

The magistrate, who decided to hold the court in her chambers, apparently to protect the identity of the victim since she is a minor and was also expected to give evidence against her violator.

The matter was later adjourned to September 10, 2012 after plea was taken from the accused, while the magistrate ordered that he be remanded in police custody until the day the case had been adjourned.

Ebere was accused of committing the offence on the night of August 28, 2012, when the little girl was attracted into his room to watch a musical video he was playing. It was alleged that it was while the girl was watching the film that he grabbed her and tied her mouth with cloth before raping her.

The matter, however, came to the open when the little girl came out with bruises in her private parts, with her pant and laps smeared with semen. She later narrated her ordeal to her 12-year-old sister, who then rushed to inform their mother.

The mother of the victim, Mrs. Joy Emeribe, told The Nation that she was shocked when she saw her daughter in that situation and since it was already late in the day, she decided to preserve the evidence by neither cleaning up her daughter nor washing the pant she wore when she was assaulted.

Mrs. Emeribe, a widow, said that she had warned her children against entering the room of their randy co-tenant who had attempted to seduce the elder sister of the victim with N500 but failed as she refused his amorous offer.

She said, “I want the police to take the matter to court so that the man would explain why he violated my little daughter. I don’t even know if he did it for ritual purposes, because one wonders the attraction in an eight year old girl.”