A university lecturer, Dr Ayinde Olukayode, accused of raping a 12-year-old has been discharged and acquitted by an Ado-Ekiti High Court.
The Ekiti State University (EKSU) lecturer was charged for alleged offence of rape contrary to the provisions of Section 31 (c) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
According to the prosecutor, Olukayode raped the 12-year-old girl, (names withheld) in August 2020.
Olukayode, who pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, was arraigned on March 7, 2022.
The presiding judge, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, ruled that the witnesses presented by the prosecution team failed to convince the court that the crime was committed by the defendant.
He, therefore, discharged and acquitted Olukayode of the offence of rape for insufficient claims.
While the prosecution called four witnesses, the defendant called five witnesses.
According to the prosecution witnesses, the defendant allegedly had carnal knowledge of the victim several times while the victim told the court that she did not inform anybody.
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The medical doctor that examined the victim confirmed that her hymen was broken, affirming that there was a minute fresh injury on the girl’s external genitalia without discharge.
The victim’s father, Olatunji Ojo, who testified on Oath, as a defence witness, told the court that Olukayode did not rape his child because the man is a father to all.
In Olukayode’s defence, he and his wife, Eunice Olabisi, told the court that the defendant was battling with erection dysfunction which medically could not position him to have any sexual intercourse.
Olabisi said the couple had not been intimate for the past five years due to erectile dysfunction and therefore, could not have committed the offence.
Counsel to the defendant, Mr Oladele Adedeji, submitted that evidence led by the prosecution through the witnesses did not link the defendant with the commission of the offence levelled against him.
Adedeji noted that a medical examination ought to have been conducted when the matter was fresh to show how the hymen of the girl was broken.
The counsel prayed the court to discharge and acquit his client for lack of evidence and affirm his innocence.
But the prosecution led by a Counsel from the State Ministry of Justice, Ibironke Odetola, submitted that the prosecution had proven the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, through the witnesses and prayed the court to convict the defendant as charged.