By Mafugi Ceesay
A marabout in Brikama was said to have been arrested and released by police following allegations that he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old girl in Brikama.
The young girl reportedly used to visit the marabout to pick up a fetish mixture for her mother.
The young girl told this paper that whenever she was sent to the marabout, he would offer to give her concoctions “to open her luck for marriage”.
“I always tell him I am too young and want to focus on my future than getting married,” the girl explained.
She said because of this sustained harassment, she stopped going to see the marabout and when her mother quizzed her on why she was avoiding him, she told her of his inappropriate behaviours.
“One day I met him on his way from the mosque and he demanded to know why I was not visiting him to collect the concoctions. I told him I was not feeling well and he asked me to go with him to his house to pick up a package for my mother. Upon reaching his house he started touching me and told me I was looking fresh and if I wished, he would give me concoctions to get my choice of husband.
“I was very scared and once he gave me the concoction, I fled. I didn’t see him for a long time until one evening he passed by our house on the pretext that he missed my mother and came to visit her but my mum was then away. I was siting with him in the sitting room when he started touching me and violated my private parts. I got up and ran away.”
The young girl said she then reported the matter to the Brikama police and claimed the marabout was picked up and later released.
When contacted for confirmation, the police spokesperson said he contacted the police child welfare unit but the file could not be seen. He promised to find out and furnish us with details.
