Further details have emerged on how a 78-year-old woman who had gone missing from her home was raped to death by one Jelili Lawal in an uncompleted building in Lagos.
According to an Investigative Police Officer (IPO), ASP Babatunde Ashifat, at an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court where Ashifat was led in evidence by the Lagos State counsel, Ms Bukola Okeowo at the resumed trial of Lawal for rape, Ashifat was assigned the case for investigation on Jan. 2, 2019.
He testified that two ladies who saw the defendant raping the septuagenarian called the attention of a policeman on night patrol.
The witness said the old woman was with the defendant on Jan. 1, 2019, at Maryland Bus Stop in Lagos State, where she told him to help her to locate her residence.
He said: “The defendant gave her N500, and they boarded same bus. On getting to a bus stop, the defendant told her to come down, took her to an uncompleted building in a bushy area, assaulted and raped her at night.
“The victim was crying for help when two ladies heard her and caught the defendant in the act. They helped the woman by calling the policeman on patrol.”
The witness told the court that the alleged victim, who had problem with her ears, had been declared missing by her family.
The IPO said that the alleged victim sustained injuries from the rape and later died from excessive bleeding due to the rape.
“The victim was bleeding from her anus and vagina, and I gave a medical form for her to be taken to the Mirabel Medical Centre.
“The medical doctor, who examined her, confirmed that there was a forceful penetration into her vagina.I was later told that the victim died due to the bleeding,” the witness said.
The IPO said after the report was made, he recorded statements of the alleged victim and the defendant. And he visited the scene of the crime, which was bushy and abandoned.
Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case until Oct. 27 for the continuation of trial.
