Three persons have been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old girl at Eyita, Ikorodu area of the state.
The police are also on the trail of a fourth suspect, a secondary school pupil, said to be involved in the crime.
City Round learnt that the suspects reside in the neighbourhood and usually waylaid the victim when she was sent on errands and had sex with her.
It was gathered that relations of the victim, who lives with her grandmother, observed she had been wayward lately and started monitoring her closely.
A neighbour recently chanced on four boys reportedly molesting the girl at a dark spot close to her residence. They were said to have fled on sighting the man.
Our correspondent gathered that the neighbour notified the victim’s relations about the incident and she was queried.
It was learnt that she mentioned the suspects and the case was reported at the Sagamu Road Police Station.
An uncle of the victim, Tunde Animola, told City Round that the girl had been living with the grandmother since her childhood.
He said, “She has been wayward lately. After studying her closely, we discovered that some boys have been having sex with her. Recently a neighbour sent her on an errand and she didn’t come back in time. It was in the process of searching for her that the man saw her with some boys. The following Saturday, November 16, around 7.30pm, the neighbour caught the boys at a dark spot molesting her.
“We then reported the case to the police. Four persons were involved and one of them is also a secondary school pupil who is still at large. Her parents have separated and remarried. She lives with her grandmother. She is in SS3.”
Animola added that a medical test had been carried out on the girl and submitted to the police.
A rights activist, Okla Gogo, who is on the case, said an investigation police officer at the Sagamu Road Division, one Inspector Ariet, initially wanted to treat the incident as a case of indecent assault and not defilement.
He said, “The IPO said the survivor was not a virgin so she can only charge the perpetrators with indecent assault not defilement. She (the IPO) also threatened to check if the girl was acutely raped or not.”
“We appreciate the area commander and all parties that helped on the case. If not, the Sagamu Division IPO would have released the perpetrators,” Gogo added.
The spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Bala Elkana, had yet to reply to a message sent to him, seeking an update on the case.
@ Punch Newspaper
