A middle-aged man, Kenneth Nwangu, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Youngsters, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Courtroom sitting within the Excessive Courtroom, Awka, Anambra State, for defiling his nine-year-old daughter and solely youngster.
The judgment was delivered in a three-count introduced towards the defendant by the state authorities following compelling proof proving him responsible as charged.
He was consequently sentenced to seven years imprisonment on depend one – having sexual activity with a nine-year-old, an offence punishable underneath Part 34 of the Youngster Rights Legislation of Anambra State of Nigeria, 2004.
The court docket additionally sentenced the defendant to 2 years imprisonment on depend on two – inflicting bodily accidents on his sufferer and one year imprisonment on depend on three – inflicting emotional and psychological abuse on the sufferer.
The two offences are punishable underneath Sections 4 and 16 of the Violence Towards Individuals, Prohibition and Safety Legal guidelines of Anambra State of Nigeria, 2017.
In its ruling, the court docket relied on the proof offered by prosecution witnesses and the sufferer. It took cognizance of evidence that the defendant had been caring for the sufferer for about 12 months after the mom left them, amongst others.
The court docket allowed the defendant to elucidate why he was raping his youngster and shouldn’t be given the utmost sentence of life imprisonment.
However, he later admitted to the crime and pleaded for leniency. His defence counsel additionally pleaded for mercy of the court docket on the premise that the defendant was a first-time offender and had the sufferer as his sole youngster, amongst other things.
The court docket ordered that the seven, two- and one-year jail phrases should run concurrently and that the sufferer should stay within the care of the Anambra State Authorities.
Reacting to the judgment, the Anambra State Lawyer Normal and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Sylvia Ifemeje, who led the prosecution staff in the case, described it as a welcome improvement, saying it will function as a deterrent to different offenders.
Ifemeje careworn that the state authorities’s zero tolerance for sexual assaults is non-negotiable.
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