By Mabinty M. Kamara
A 22-year-old man serving as a witness to an alleged rape incident has been forced into hiding amidst allegations of bribery and threats to influence him to desist from testifying in the matter.
Isaiah Turay, who says he saw the alleged rape of a 13-year-old deaf and mute girl, says he is under pressure from his church, friends and family members not to testify in court in the matter involving one Joseph Samuel Bassie who is alleged to have raped the girl.
Turay says some of the unnamed people trying to influence him resorted to intimidation tactics after they failed to buy him over with bribes. He says he has therefore been forced to leave Grafton, where the alleged incident occurred, to an undisclosed location in Freetown.
Both Turay and the alleged rapist are close friends to the family of the 13-year-old and they frequently visited the family home for food and other supplies.
Politico exclusively reported the incident in its 23 October edition. At the time the police said they were still investigating the issue, amidst concerns by the parents of the victim about the intensity and pace of the investigation. In that report, Turay told Politico how he had foiled a previous attempt by Bassie to rape the girl.
On Tuesday29 October, Turay told Politico that there had been attempts to bribe him with a “huge sum” of money for him to stop talking to the media and to withdraw from serving as a witness in the matter. He however stopped short of naming the people who allegedly offered him the bribe. He said: “Certain people want to give me money so that I don’t further serve as a witness to the event. But I told them I will get back to them. That is why I have left Grafton for a secret location from where I am speaking to you now. I am human and I am liable to be convinced if pressured.”
Turay said almost everyone connected to him had been trying to convince him not to serve as a witness in the case, noting however that his religious orientation and belief were the only things that had convinced him to stay put.
“My spiritual father is always strict on that…what you don’t want to happen to you, you should also not want it for another person, and I will stick to that which the Bible teaches me. So, I will not change my mind, not even for the affected family. What I saw is what I will testify to,” he emphasized.
When Politico first investigated the matter, the suspect had been released on bail, after spending six days in detention. But sources told Politico that he was rearrested immediately following the first report and is currently with the Police at Grafton.
Since the alleged rape incident on the 10 October, the accused has not been charged. He was initially released on bail.
A final medical report on the incident which was supposed to have been released on Tuesday, 29 October by the Rainbow Center has been delayed. The victim’s father, who cannot be named because that could unveil the victim, told Politico that he couldn’t “understand why the matter has taken this long to be charged to court. But I will continue to be patient. I’m concerned about this delay as justice delayed is justice denied.”
On Tuesday the mother of the 13-year-old “victim” said she went to the hospital on the date set for the release of the medical report for the attention of the police but was told by a nurse that the person who was to certify the result had “traveled out of the country and would not be back until December.” The victim’s mother said she suspected “foul play.”
Throughout our reporting on this issue, the police officer investigating the case, who gave her name only as Inspector Aminata, has consistently refused to speak to us despite agreeing to an interview on the phone prior to our two visits to the Grafton police station.
Rape of a minor in Sierra Leone carries life in prison.
© 2019 Politico Online
