Judge discharges rape suspect of 2 year old girl, chastises police

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Wednesday scolded the police for lack of diligence and poor investigation of the case of a two-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped.

While discharging the defendant in the case, Chekube Odunze, the judge charged the police to be more effective and meticulous in their investigations, stressing that they must always ensure that relevant evidence for  prosecution of criminal cases were not compromised.

 According to Punch,the judge said

 “The police need to move into the 21st century and present forensic evidence and not stick to archaic methods of investigation.

“…The police did not produce any blood and semen-stained underwear belonging to the toddler; the testimony of the medical doctor only established redness in the genitals and no signs of physical injury.

“The starting point is the testimony of the medical doctor; she was not in a position to say whether the redness was caused by the penetration of a penis, fingering or the insertion of a foreign object in the vagina.

 “It was almost impossible to establish the cause of the redness of the private part.
 “What also damaged the case is the non-presentation of the blood-stained pants of the toddler by the police to the medical examiner for forensic examination.
 “The underwear was not presented to the court as evidence to even prove that semen was discharged during the act.

 “The mother of the toddler did not also come to court to testify against the defendant.
 “The testimony of the police witnesses did not sufficiently answer the question whether the defendant sexually assaulted the complainant.”

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