The Ikeja Sexual Offence and Domestic Violence Court
A woman, Rita Ebirim, has demanded justice following the alleged defilement of her five-year-old daughter by her brother-in-law in Lagos.
The distraught mother, who spoke with our correspondent on Friday, explained that her estranged husband had filed a divorce on August 2, 2022, and while waiting for the trial, she was ordered by the court to allow the father to have access to their daughter.
Ebirim explained that her daughter was defiled during her second visit to her father by his brother.
She said, “One day in February last year, he came to pick her up for the first time in the morning and returned her in the evening. That day I sensed that something was wrong with my girl and I voiced my suspicion to my lawyer but he waved it off.
“The next time, he came to take her to visit him and she returned to me at night beyond the speculated time. Later, when I wanted to bathe her, she started crying, pushing my hands away, that I shouldn’t touch her ‘there’.
“When I asked her who touched her there she told me her uncle touched her.”
Ebirim said when she called her daughter’s father, he said he didn’t do anything to her and immediately told her to take the girl to the hospital “knowing full well that it was late at night”.
“I took her to two hospitals and after she was examined, the doctors said she had bruises on her private parts, that she had been sexually molested,” she added.
Sunday Special learned that the case was reported to the Ketu police station and also the Lagos State Sexual and Domestic Violence Agency.
“Although the suspect was arrested, he was later released on bail, and up till now, we are still awaiting a hearing in court. The case has needlessly dragged on and it feels that justice is elusive,” Ebirim added.
Giving an update on the case, the Executive Secretary of the DSVA, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, in a chat with our correspondent, disclosed that a forensic interview had been conducted for the child and that the case had been referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
She said, “The agency received a report of an alleged case of defilement on February 20, 2023, against one X. It was alleged that Mr O has allegedly abused her sexually during her visit to Mr O.
Vivour-Adeniyi further said the agency immediately referred the case officially to the Ketu divisional police station on the same day.
“The case was also referred to State CID, Panti, on February 21, 2023, where investigations were conducted with all parties involved. Two officers from the agency were also assigned to support the survivors’ mother at the police station.
“The agency subsequently referred the case to Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre for a forensic interview to be conducted. The forensic interview was successfully conducted in April 2023. The case file was forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice,” she added.