Father in court for raping, infecting 6-yr-old daughter with STD

Harrison Agu, a 35-year-old man, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates' Court, sitting in Lagos State, for allegedly defiling his six-year-old daughter and infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease in the process.

Agu, a father of three who resides with his family at 23, Rotimi Omotosho Street, Isheri Osun, Lagos, was charged with indecent treatment of a minor, an offence that carries a seven-year imprisonment if found guilty.

The police prosecutor in the case, Inspector Simon Imhonwa, had told the court that the Agu regularly raped his own daughter within the last three years and that he started the shameful act when his wife went for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme in 2013.

“The accused began the assault in 2013 when the child’s mother was away for the compulsory one year NYSC.

It was during this period that the child fell ill with a serious infection in her genitals for the first time.

Thereafter, the mother of the child observed that the child’s genitals regularly produced a foul smell with discharges.

The mother took the child to the hospital where it was confirmed that she had been defiled and infected with the disease.

The mother said her child told her that Agu always asked her to remove her jeans and pants and then he will put his hand in her ‘bum bum’ (vagina) and if she refuses, he beats her,” the prosecutor said.

He further told the court that police investigations into the case revealed that the child had been physically and emotionally abused since she was aged 3.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and the Magistrate, Mrs Bola Osunsanmi, admitted him to bail in the sum of N500,000, and ordered that the file be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.