‘I lost my virginity after being raped’

A Lagos High Court on Monday, heard how a sickle cell sufferer lost her virginity after being raped in 2015.

Police Inspector Usman Sanni told the court that the woman was raped by her boyfriend, Imonitie Otuma.

Usman, who was testifying in Otuma’s trial, said he recorded the complainant’s statement shortly after the incident.

Otuma, 34, was arraigned in 2016 on a two-count charge of assault, threat to life and rape.

He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.

But he violated his bail terms, following which Justice Adedayo Akintoye revoked the bail and remanded in prison.

Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr Babatunde Sunmonu, Sanni said the woman was a 27-year-old fresh graduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) at the time.

Otuma finished a year earlier from the same institution.

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Sanni said: “She told me they met at UNILAG when he was an undergraduate. They began dating, but when she found out that the defendant slept with one of her friends, she broke up with him.”

He said after she graduated in 2015, the defendant sought to reconcile with her and, after much pleading, she agreed to meet with him at a mall on Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere.

The witness said the complainant and the defendant watched a movie at the mall, adding that they also visited a club somewhere in Lekki.

According to him, the woman got tired while at the club, entered the defendant’s car and laid down on the back seat.

The court heard that the defendant entered the car and forcibly had carnal knowledge of the complainant.

The defendant allegedly threatened to kill her if she did not allow him to have his way.

“She said he beat her up and squeezed her neck. She begged him that she was a virgin, that he should not rape her, but he ignored her pleas. After the act, he gave her some tissues to clean up,” Sanni said.

Justice Akintoye adjourned till October 10 for further hearing.

According to the charge, the defendant allegedly committed the offences on July 10, 2015, at Lekki.

It alleged that the defendant raped the victim who is suffering from sickle cell anaemia, without her consent and threatened to kill her with a revolver.