I was drugged, raped by our married neighbour

A fourteen-year-old girl in Zangon Bare-Bare quarters in Kano metropolis has shocked residents of the area with her accusation of a neighbour, one Ibrahim Rabiu, of drugging, raping and impregnating her.

She made the accusation after her parents asked her who was responsible for the baby she was recently delivered of.

It was gathered that the parents of the girl did not notice that their daughter was pregnant throughout the pregnancy period but discovered only after the girl had complained of stomach ache and was taken to the hospital.

At the hospital, it was discovered that the stomachache was pregnancy-related pain.

She said nine months ago, Rabiu sent her to buy tea and sugar for him and on her return from the errand, the man locked her inside the house and raped her.

“When I came back, I noticed that his wife was not around. He locked the door and forced me to take a s oft drink, threatening that he would kill me if I refused to do so.

“From that moment, I did not know what happened, only to wake up and find myself been raped, and he warned me not to tell anybody and that if I exposed it, he would kill me,” the victim said.

Speaking to Daily Trust, the victim’s mother, Amina Ahmad, said they did not notice that their daughter was raped and was pregnant until when she complained of stomach pain and was taken to hospital.

“When she was delivered of her baby, we asked her who was responsible and she said it is our neighbour. When we contacted him about it, he agreed but later rejected it. He even bought some clothes and milk for the baby. But later, he said we must undergo a test and the test shows positive,” the mother said.

The girl’s father, Usaini Ado, said they have reported the man to the police and that few days after he was arrested, they saw him at home.

“I interrogated my daughter and she confirmed to me that it was the man that was responsible. I have tried to meet him but he has been hiding from me. It was through his elder brother that I got him.

“We want the authorities involved to look into our problem and do justice to us please. We don’t know what happened but he was released by the police and our daughter and the baby are in dire need of justice,” he lamented.

When contacted, the spokesman of the police in the state, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, confirmed that the Commissioner of Police was in receipt of a complaint on the matter and that the suspect was invited for questioning, adding that investigation was still in progress and that if found culpable, the suspect would soon be arraigned in court.

Sources close to the police investigation, however, told Daily Trust that the suspect could not be detained because nothing in the investigation has so far established any culpability on his part. The sources added that preliminary investigation of the police at the hospital the victim was reportedly taken to for delivery revealed that there was no record of the victim being at the hospital that period.

(Daily Trust: Excludes headline)