By Taiwo Niyi
The Kebbi High Court 7, sitting in Birni Kebbi, presided over by Justice Shamsudeen Jafar, has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the rape of an 18-year-old deaf woman.
The convicts, Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar, and Bashar Dan-Inno, residents of Wararin Zaromawa village, received their sentences on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Faridah Muhammad, the prosecution counsel, revealed that the defendants faced charges of criminal conspiracy and rape under sections 259 and 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021.
These offenses took place in Wararin Zaromawa village, within the Gwandu Local Government Area.
According to the prosecution, the defendants broke into the victim’s home while she was asleep, using a thick piece of cloth to choke her and binding her hands with a rope before raping her one by one.
Muhammad noted that the prosecution presented three witnesses and six exhibits, including statements in English and Hausa, to substantiate their case.
Defense counsel Ahmed Abubakar-Filgila called the convicts to testify but did not submit any supporting documents or exhibits, urging the court to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Jafar stated that the prosecution had convincingly proven all elements of the crime.
He affirmed, “I am convinced that the defendants conspired to commit this heinous act.
The prosecution established beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants conspired and raped the victim, who is an 18-year-old deaf woman, at her husband’s residence.”
Justice Jafar concluded by sentencing Amiru Sani, Aliyu Umar, and Bashar Dan-Inno to life imprisonment, emphasising that the mandatory sentences under sections 259 and 60 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021, left the court with no alternative
