Scrap dealer pleads guilty to rape, remanded in custody

The Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Offences Court sitting in Awka, Anambra, has ordered the remand of a 30-year-old scrap dealer, Kalu Iloh, in a correctional facility.

Presiding Magistrate, Mrs U.E. Onochie, gave the order following Iloh’s arraignment on a one-count charge of defilement.

The defendant was on Thursday arraigned for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl with Down syndrome.

While the defendant pleaded guilty of the charge, the magistrate adjourned the case until Sept. 24 for sentencing.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Chinyere Okechukwu told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Aug. 13, at Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area.

“The 42-year-old mother of the 13-year-old victim reported a case of defilement at the police station.

“She said she came back from a business trip and noticed that her daughter was walking in an unusual manner.

“On enquiry, her daughter told her that the defendant barged into the bathroom while she was urinating, forcefully removed her clothing and had canal knowledge of her.

“After medical examination at the Ntasi Sexual Assault Referral Centre at General Hospital Enugu-Ukwu, a medical practitioner confirmed that the girl had been defiled,” she told the court.

Okechukwu said the offence contravened Sections 130(2) (a) (b) of the Administration Criminal Justice Law 2022.