An Investigating Police Officer (IPO) Insp. Elizabeth Osikolu, on Monday told an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how a housewife, Omolara Alashe, allegedly forced a 19-year-old lady to sleep with her husband in order to make her get pregnant and deliver a baby by surrogacy.
Omolara and her husband, Ramoni Lateef, are facing three counts of conspiracy, rape and sexual assault. The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty.
The witness, while being led in evidence by the State Lead Counsel, Mr. 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 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 lady 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 who died sometime in October 2022.
The witness 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 Defence Counsel, Mr. Lekan Egberongbe, the witness maintained that the girl was not lying.
According to her, the first defendant admits it 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 (DSVA).
“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,” Osikolu said.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case to Feb. 3, 2025 for continuation of trial. (NAN)
