After spending two years in prison, 23-year-old Victory Tasie, who was accused of r*ping his 19-year-old girlfriend, was discharged and acquitted by Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Ikeja S*xual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Thursday.
The judge discharged and
acquitted Tasie when she ruled on a no-case submission filed by the defendant
through his counsel, Mrs Rukayat Owolabi, dated March 19, 2024.
Justice Soladoye held that the
prosecution failed to discharge the burden of proof of defilement against
Tasie.
She held that the witness
(alleged survivor, Tasie’s girlfriend) called by the prosecution had revealed
to the court in her testimony that Tasie was her boyfriend and that he did not
r*pe her.
According to the judge, the
evidence of the survivor was key, and she testified before the court that she
was not a minor when she got pregnant for the defendant as she was born on
April 12, 2003.
Soladoye said, “The defence
counsel filed a no-case submission dated March 19, stating that the prosecution
had failed to establish the charge of defilement against the defendant and
urged the court to discharge and acquit him.
“The prosecution only called
one witness, and having not been able to call other witnesses, the prosecution
closed its case on February 8, 2024.
“I have carefully considered
the submissions of the learned counsel, and the court finds that the
prosecution failed to prove the charge of defilement against the defendant.
“I hereby uphold the no-case
submission of the defendant in this case. The defendant has no case to answer,
and he is hereby discharged and acquitted.”
The state government had
accused Tasie of defiling the purported survivor, who was 16 years old,
according to the charge, sometime in January 2022.
The girlfriend, however, in her
testimony dated November 8, 2023, told the court that she was 19 years old and
not 16 when Tasie had s*x with her, which led to pregnancy.
She had also told the court
that Tasie did not r*pe her as they were both in a romantic relationship, and
the s*x that occurred was consensual.
“Yes, I know the defendant. He
is my boyfriend. I am here in this court to say that he did not r*pe me, and he
is my boyfriend. I was not 16 years old when I got pregnant; I was 19,” she had
said.
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