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A group, known as ‘Gender Based Violence Against Women and Children’ and partners based in Benue State, have described the jail term slammed on a 36-year-old rapist (name withheld) as a pat on the shoulder.
Speaking with newsmen in Makurdi on Saturday, the focal person to Apin Public Health Initiative, a Gender Based Violence Against Women and Children’, Lucia Torjir, called on the state government to appeal the judgment given by the state high court.
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The rapist, who is a married man, was sentenced to imprisonment on October, 30th, 2023 for defiling a 13-year-old girl in 2020.
The case was instituted at the State High Court, Makurdi in 2021 and judgment given on October, 30 where the rapist was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Torjir described the judgement as a slap on the wrist which will discourage other victims of rape from voicing out.
The focal person said that the penal code stipulated death or lesser terms of penalty for rapists in the state but regretted that the six years jail term slammed on the rapist was ‘a pat on the shoulder’.
According to her, “We received with mixed feelings of the incident that happened recently, first, feeling of joy that we were able to get justice against gender based violence but on the other hand, we are not too happy about the judgment of the court.
“This is concerning a case of a minor who is a 13 years old child of a vulnerable mother whose daughter was violated and abandoned in a building in 2020.
“Our partner, Global Women Right and Child Initiative, worked with Lawyers Alert to get the perpetrator arrested in 2020.
“And in 2021, the case was filed in court and in 2023, specifically, on 30, October, judgment was passed.
“We were really excited to the fact that unlike previous incidents where such cases were struck out on technicalities, we were able to get justice as the rapist was sentenced to six years imprisonment coupled with a fine of N100,000.00.”
She said further, “Inasmuch as we welcome this judgment, the provision in the state penal code section 284 stipulates life imprisonment or lesser terms for perpetrators of gender based violence found guilty with fine.
“According to ) Socrates, the great philosopher, Justice is working at that naturally best suited, going by this, six years jail term was not best suited as compared to life imprisonment term the law stipulated in our own sense of judgment.
“Based on this, we have collectively come together and demand that the state government appeal this judgment so as to serve as a deterrent to others.
“If severe punishment is slammed on perpetrators, it will also give the survival encouragement to speak out and this will reduce to barest minimal violence against women and children in our state,” she added.
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