The Court of Appeal in Lagos will tomorrow, Friday 29th of November decide the appeal by the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Dr. Olufemi Olaleye, who is challenging his rape conviction and life imprisonment sentence.
Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court convicted Olaleye in October 2023 of raping his wife’s teenage niece.
Olaleye, through his lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), sought to overturn the judgment.
In a 35-ground appeal, the convict’s counsel contended that there was no direct evidence confirming the alleged victim’s age.He argued that the prosecution failed to provide any documentation to support its claim that she was 16.
Pinheiro contended that the alleged victim’s testimony was riddled with inconsistencies, noting that she did not initially accuse Dr. Olaleye of rape in her statement to the police.
“Her testimony is full of contradictions,” the defence argued. But, the prosecution maintained that it had established the offences of defilement and sexual assault by penetration beyond a reasonable doubt, which justified the conviction.
It asserted that to prove the offence of defilement, it must be established that the child was underage and that the accused engaged in sexual intercourse with her, regardless of consent.
The prosecution led by the state’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) , Dr Babajide Martins insisted that there were no contradictions in the testimonies of their witnesses,urging the Appeal Court to uphold the judgement of the lower court
The notice of the appeal judgement was passed to the ccounseling the matter
The appellate panel, comprising Justices Olukayode Bada, Mohammad Sirajo and Folasade Ojo, reserved judgment.
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