By Bruce Asemota
One Muhammed Jallow, a 78-year-old resident of Wellingara, Kombo North, was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment after found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court in Banjul.
Jallow was charged with a single count of rape contrary to Section 3(1) (a) of the Sexual Offences Act, 2013.
He was arraigned on 8 July 2021 and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Prosecutors led by State Counsel F Drammeh called six witnesses and tendered three documents into evidence. Jallow testified in his defence and called a lone witness.
Delivering judgment, Justice Jaiteh explained what constitutes a sexual act and disclosed that in order to prove rape, the prosecution did not have to establish how deeply a victim was penetrated and that even the slightest degree of penetration was sufficient to constitute the crime.
The judge asserted that the victim was subjected to medical examination which indicated that the hymen of the victim was not intact.
He said the prosecution said Jallow had sexual intercourse with the young girl and the likely cause of the broken hymen was due to the intercourse.
He said the medical report confirmed that there were bruises and whitish discharge from the vagina indicating that the convict inserted his penis into the vagina of the victim.
Justice Jaiteh disclosed that he believed the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and that he was not persuaded by the arguments advanced by the defence.
He said the testimony of Jallow was fraught with inconsistencies.
He disclosed that the prosecution proved the charge of rape against Jallow and he therefore convicted him on a single count of rape.
Justice Jaiteh said the convict poses a real danger to women and girls and should be kept away from the society.
He further said the act of the convict was malicious and reckless considering his age.
Justice Jaiteh bemoaned the upsurge of rape cases involving young girls and said “it is deeply troubling and has the potential to create fear in women and girls in our society and therefore must be discouraged”.
