The Children, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Court sitting in High Court, Awka, Anambra State, on Monday, sentenced a man identified as Kenneth Nwangu, to 10 years imprisonment for defiling his nine-year-old daughter and only child.
According to The PUNCH, judgment was delivered in a three-count charge levied against the defendant by the state government following compelling evidence proving him guilty as charged.
He was consequently sentenced to seven years imprisonment on count one of the charges – having sexual intercourse with a nine-year-old, an offence punishable under Section 34 of the Child Rights Law of Anambra State of Nigeria 2004.
The court also sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment on count two – inflicting physical injuries on his victim and one-year imprisonment on count three – causing emotional and psychological abuse on the victim.
The two offences are punishable under Sections 4 and 16 of the Violence Against Persons, Prohibition and Protection, Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria 2017.
In its decision, the court depended on proof introduced by prosecution witnesses; including the victim and furthermore took cognisance of proof that the litigant had been taking of the victim from around one year after the mother left them, among others.
The court offered the defendant chance to explain why he was assaulting his kid, and ought not be given the greatest sentence of life imprisonment
While responding, the defendant initially denied defiling his child, claiming it was a woman he usually left the child with following the wife’s separation that got him arrested by the police over the allegation.
He, however, later admitted to the crime and pleaded for leniency, and his defence counsel also pleaded for mercy of the court on the premise that the defendant was a first-time offender and had the victim as his only child, among others.
The court ordered that the seven-, two– and one-year prison terms should run concurrently and that the victim should still remain in the care of the Anambra State Government.
The Anambra State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Sylvia Ifemeje, who led the prosecution team in the case, described the judgment as a welcome development, adding that it would serve as a deterrent to other offenders.
Ifemeje affirmed the state government’s zero tolerance for sexual assault.
