An Investigating Police Officer, Inspector Elizabeth Osikolu, on Monday told an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Lagos State how a housewife, Omolara Alashe, allegedly forced a 19-year-old lady to sleep with her husband to bear a child.
The housewife and her husband, Ramoni Lateef, are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, rape and sexual assault before the court.
The witness, while being led in evidence by the State Lead Counsel, Babajide Boye, told the court that the alleged incident happened sometime in 2022 in Lagos.
Osikolu told the court that the mother of the victim died while they were living at Ojota, also in Lagos State, and the couple offered to accommodate her.
She told the court that the victim said the couple also allegedly abused her physically whenever she made mistakes while living with them.
According to the witness, the first defendant (Omolara) on a particular day allegedly woke up the 19-year-old in the middle of the night, and stripped her naked, while the second defendant (Ramoni) slept with her.
The IPO told the court that her investigation further revealed that the couple had a baby, but died sometime in October 2022.
Osikolu said: “The first defendant has not been able to conceive again after the death of the child.
“So they decided to use the survivor to bear children for him to prevent the husband from getting married again.
“The girl said they were in the sitting room one day when the first defendant started beating her, stripped her naked and inserted her fingers in her vagina.
“After she beat the girl, she threw out her belongings, seized her ATM card, MTN line and the salary she was making at the time to deny her access to her money.”
While being cross-examined by the Defence Counsel, Lekan Egberongbe, the witness maintained that the girl was not lying.
According to Osikolu, the first defendant admitted this in her statement.
The witness told the court that if the 19-year-old had consented to the sexual assault, she would not have reported it to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency.
She said: “She would not have submitted herself for medical examination at Mirabel centre.
“The girl in question could not resist the man because she was intimidated by the wife.”
Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case to February 3, 2025 for continuation of trial.
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