By Binta A Bah
A 30-year-old woman, who assaulted an 8-year-old child by beating her with a pestle, the video of which went viral, has been jailed for eighteen months by the Brikama Magistrates’ Court.
Adama Jarju of Lamin village was sentenced following her plea of guilty last week that she willfully assaulted the victim, who is under her care by hitting her with a pestle all over her body.
Her actions caused outrage when a video of the beating went viral on social media.
Sentencing her, Magistrate Isatou Dabo said the convict has manifested a total disregard for the rights of the victim and demonstrated a feature of a ‘heartless’ individual with no sympathy.
“A wooden pestle will break or damage an object, more so a child of 8 years who should be cared for and protected by her guardian,” she said, emphasizing that the courts bear a duty to do justice and protect the young ones from any form of exposure to harm.
Adama jarju had pleaded for mercy from the court that she was motivated by Satan but Magistrate Dabo held that being influenced by Satan is not an excuse.
“The repeated cautionary remarks by the person who filmed the video should have been enough to alert the convict on the seriousness of her actions,” he said, adding that her actions appear to be deliberate. She was sentenced accordingly. The prosecuting police officer was ASP Butteh Sawaneh, representing the IGP.
