A 63-year-old man, Alabi Ibrahim, was on Friday re-arraigned in a court in Abeokuta, Ogun state, and remanded in prison for allegedly infecting his stepdaughter with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
Mr. Ibrahim was accused of sexually assaulting the thirteen-year-old.
The director of public prosecution, O. Osunfisan, who stood for the respondent in the case instituted by Child Protection Network, a non-governmental organization, told the court that the accused, according to a medical report, had infected the girl with the virus.
During cross examination in the case reference number AB/37c/14, the accused admitted being HIV positive, but vehemently denied having sex with his step daughter. He claimed not to know how the girl got infected with the virus.
He said the girl had earlier been sexually abused by a relative of his wife, before he got married to the victim’s mother. He also claimed the girl was “wayward and corrupt” and he had wanted to send her packing.
The accused told the court that sometime ago the girl was alleged to have invited her siblings to suck her private part.
However, Ms. Osunfisan, while presenting the medical reports, disclosed that the accused had made available a room in their home where he regularly had sex with the teenager.
She told the court that the accused did not allow the siblings to share the same room with the victim. She said during the rape, Mr. Ibrahim had covered the victim’s mouth with a pillow so that she won’t shout or cry out.
The minor, in her statement, affirmed that her stepfather had sex with her. She said he lured her into his bedroom under the guise of supervising her school homework. She said the accused had warned her not to tell anybody, or be killed.
The counsel to the accused, Kizito Roberts, during cross examination, brought a witness, Sakirat Mosaku, who told the court she knew the accused, his wife and the victim. She said at a point in time, the wife had told her the accused had sex with the victim.
Mr. Ibrahim, however, insisted that his wife and step daughter wanted to nail him because of his resolve to eject the girl from his home. He said his wife had also confessed to him that she was possessed with demons and had transferred the demons to her daughter and they could not be separated.
The judge, A. Akinremi, in his ruling adjourned the case to July 7 for further hearing, for conclusion of defence and address.