Family of 13-year-old rape victim demands justice
The family of a 13-year-old girl who was raped by a tailor in Misau, Bauchi State, and has been delivered of a baby is demanding justice for their daughter.
The family has already petitioned the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrator to book.
The young mother was a Junior Secondary School I (JSS I) student of Central Junior Secondary School in Anguwan Bakin Kasuwa in Misau Local Government of Bauchi State.
Mother of the victim, Hafsat Muhammed, said the family wants justice for their daughter because the person who put her in that situation, one Malam Babayo, is walking free.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the suspect absconded after the family asked him to own up to the pregnancy.
It was further gathered that the physically challenged father of the victim depends on his wife and teenage daughter for survival.
Her predicament was brought to public knowledge by a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Prison Inmates Development Initiative (PIDI), when the father of the girl could not afford her ante-natal bills.
The Executive Director of PDI, Mr. Mbami Iliya Sabka told newsmen in Bauchi that the victim informed the organisation that the said Babayo forcefully raped and threatened her not to tell anyone. He also forced N50 into her hand and asked her to go and buy biscuits.
Sabka pointed out that when the girl was seen, she was already eight months pregnant and has not registered for antenatal and there was no arrangement in place for the child’s delivery.
The mother of the victim said she and her family were molested by Babayo, who was unwilling to grant them audience when they went to confront him. She described as an insult when one of the relatives of the tailor visited them in the hospital and gave them N2,000 asking them not to pursue the case.
The Bauchi Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kamal Datti Abubakar, said it was unfortunate because when police knew about case the suspect had absconded and that he is still at large.
Datti added that efforts will be made to bring him to book.