Man Bags Life In Prison After Giving Wife’s Niece HIV

The Lagos High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Richard Saviour to life in prison for sexually assaulting his wife’s 14-year-old niece and infecting her with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

During the trial, Mr Ola Azeez, the State Counsel, called three witnesses to support the prosecution’s case, while the defendant testified in his own defence.

Justice Oyindamola Ogala delivered the case’s judgement on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, ruling that all of the prosecution witnesses’ evidence was substantiated and considered true.

Ogala stated that the victim’s statement was supported by the Investigating Police Officer (PW1) and a Social Worker from the state Ministry of Youth and Social Welfare (PW3).

According to her, the witnesses established the charge of defilement against the convict.

“The testimony before the court clearly depicts the ‘evil’ perpetrated on this young girl and how she was abused both mentally and physically by the defendant and his wife for years,” she said.

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“Revealing how she indeed ‘cried out’ for help and was betrayed by those who were supposed to help and support her.

“It is imperative to state at this juncture that the actions of the principal of PW2’s school and the social worker (PW3) are commendable as same eventually brought some succour and relief to PW2, who unfortunately has been permanently ‘scarred’.

“Having carefully considered the entirety of facts before the court, it finds that in this instance, the prosecution has satisfactorily proved the one count change the defendant is faced with.”

Ogala claimed the defendant was desperate to separate himself from the allegations by denying the charges.

She claimed PW2 succinctly described what had happened between her and the defendant, which the defendant rejected.

“The defendant in his evidence before the court indeed narrated how PW2 (the survivor) had at one instance, after running from home to avoid a beating from his wife, ran to the station and he was subsequently informed that PW2 accused him of molesting her.

“The court finds that the totality of the testimony of the defendant who testified in his defence calling no additional witness is in essence a denial of the allegation without more.

“He offered no reliable explanations to the charge aside from attempts to depict PW2 as a stubborn girl and one who stole from himself and his wife,” she added.

The judge stated that when the police took the victim to the Mirabel Centre, she was tested and determined to be HIV positive.

She was then relocated to Mary’s Home Orphanage, where she was cared for by a non-governmental organisation called Positive Action for Treatment Access.

According to the judgement, the Mirabel Centre’s record of PW2’s genital results showed that her hymen was gone with slight whitish vaginal discharge, and the finding is consistent with recurrent vaginal penetration, lending credence to PW2’s statements.

As a result, the judge found the defendant guilty of defilement by unlawful sexual assault and sentenced him to life in prison at the Correctional Centre.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli