Painter bags life jail for raping co-tenant

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday sentenced a painter, Sikiru Oluwasegun, to life imprisonment for raping his 20-year-old co-tenant.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution proved the sole charge of rape against Oluwasegun.
Oshodi sentenced the convict to life imprisonment after he resolved the issue for determination in favour of the prosecution, following the admission of the convict’s confessional statement.
He said the confessional statement met the criteria of the Supreme Court as it was direct, positive and unequivocal in establishing that the convict committed the offence.
The judge held that evidence before the court showed that the convict lived in the same building with the survivor, a student of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu, Lagos.
“The survivor reported the incident to the student union of the LASUSTECH on the next day and they got the police to arrest the defendant.
“The defendant in his confessional statement, admitted to making his way into the room of the prosecutrix (survivor) and raped her because he liked her but he could not tell her as she was new to the compound.
“Your actions show a callous disregard for the victim’s fundamental human rights and I have considered the factors applied in your confessional statement that you were attracted to the victim but could not express your interest correctly because she was a new tenant.
“Being attracted to someone does not give you the right to force yourself on them as there is no justification for rape,” he said.
The judge said the convict admitted to the offence in his statement but during trial he concocted a story that he was robbed, beaten on the night of the incident.
“Your attempt to mislead the court shows you are not remorseful and signifies your disregard for the rule of law.
“You wrote a voluntary statement admitting to the offence in front of the Investigating  Police Officer who also visited the scene of the incident,” he said.
The court, haven found Sikiru guilty, thereafter sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Oshodi ordered that  the name of the convict be registered in the Sexual Offences Register as maintained by Lagos State Government.
NAN reports that the prosecution called one witness, an Investigative Police Officer, while the defence called three witnesses, the convict, his mother and a friend.
According to the prosecution, the convict committed the offence on July 19, 2021 at about 3.45 a.m. in Ikorodu, Lagos.
When the judge asked the convict if he had anything to say before his sentencing, he prayed the court to have mercy on him.
The State Counsel, Ms Inumidun Solarin, told the court to sentence the convict accordingly and his name be registered in the Lagos State sex offenders register.
Solarin submitted that the convict was not remorseful of what he did to the survivor and the effect of the action on the survivor.
The defence, in his allocutus, however,  told the court he had nothing to add.
According to the prosecution, the offence violates Section 260 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.