Baridapsi Needam, a 41-year-old father has been sent to jail the Bayelsa State High Court, sitting in Yenagoa for raping and impregnating his 14 year old daughter.
By the Judge’s pronouncement, Needam will be spending 14 years in prison.
His continuous rape has resulted in the victim giving birth to a baby girl.
While delivering the judgment on Friday, the Presiding Judge, Justice D.E Adokeme held that the prosecution led credible evidence and made reference to the DNA result which revealed a 99.99 per cent positive report that the convict is the father of the child.
He ruled that the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt that Needam committed the offence of rape and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment.
The State Prosecuting Counsel and Deputy Director in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, had told the court that investigations revealed that the accused, began defiling his daughter when she was seven years old by inserting his fingers into her vagina, and started having sex with her in 2020 until she got pregnant in 2022.
Also, the Bayelsa Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General, Biriyai Dambo, in the suit numbered YHC/14C/2022 earlier had charged the accused with the offence of rape contrary to Section 1(1) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law of Bayelsa State, 2021.
