By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The case against alleged rapist, Mathew Jones has been committed to the High Court after his preliminary appearances at the Magistrate Court No.2 in Freetown. The 23-year-old, who made his sixth appearance on Saturday before Magistrate Komba Kamanda, was charged with unlawful carnal knowledge, contrary to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act, 2012. In his ruling the Magistrate said the evidence before the court was “sufficient” against the accused and that committing him to the High Court was the proper thing to do. Prosecuting counsel, Sergeant 721 Sorie Conteh, who objected to bail application and expressed fear that a repeat of crime might occur since both the victim and accused resided in the same area, added that he should be remanded until his case was mentioned in the High Court. He was denied bail. Meanwhile, a 13-year old girl has testified against Sulaima Kamara, another alleged rapist. According to the third prosecution witness, she and her sister were on their way to fetch water when they decided to pass by the victim’s house for a glass of water. She said that when they entered the house, they saw the victim on top of the accused as she screamed and fought to flee from the grip of the accused. “He was kissing and romancing her and sweating a lot. He didn’t see us enter, so we grabbed the victim out of his grip and ran into the kitchen with her”, the witness explained. She added that the accused ran away when they refused to be bribed into keeping the incident secret. In the same court, a third witness, Abigail Kamara testified in the case against Mohamed Sesay, who is standing trial on one count of unlawfully penetrating an 8-year old girl at Bai Bureh Road in Freetown. The prosecution witness in this case told the court that she was called by her cousins, both aged ten years, to “come and see a man and a girl having sex”. She said that when she went to take a look, she saw the victim climbing down from the lap of accused, running into the backyard. She went on to say that when she threatened to report them to the girl’s father, she was nearly beaten up by the accused who claimed that he was only giving money to the victim. She added that her mother was the nurse that examined the victim and revealed that she had been tampered with many times. The two matters come up on Saturday 9 March, 2013.
