By Binta Bah
The trial of the rape case of a 16-year-old girl now deceased, allegedly involving one Alieu Jawo, a taxi driver, has commenced at the high court in Banjul with the girl’s mother telling the court that her daughter went missing after she was abducted by the accused from Kuloro, Kombo East.
Fatoumatta Jallow said she was not home when the incident took place but friends of her daughter told her they saw Alieu taking her away in his taxi. She said although she reported the information to the Kuloro police, she didn’t see her daughter again until after her demise.
Fatoumata was testifying as a prosecution witness against the accused who is facing charges of abduction and defilement of her daughter. He is accused of unlawfully taking away the victim from her grandmother in a taxi and raping her. Prosecutors said this happened in July 2020 in Kuloro.
According to Fatoumata, she did not know about her daughter’s whereabouts until the day Alieu called her brother’s wife informing her that the girl has died.
“Her remains where brought back to Kuloro for burial but looking at her corpse, I realised that she was pregnant and I reported the matter to the police station for the second time,” Fatoumata told the court.
She said consequently, the body of her daughter was taken to a hospital where it was confirmed that she was pregnant and the dead baby or foetus was removed from the womb before the remains were interred.
The trial continues.
