Rape cases on rampage

Lately, there have been reported incidents of rape in some parts of the country. The ugly development has attracted the attention of higher authorities in government. But it equally calls for collective concern.

Rape is an act of having unlawful carnal knowledge of the opposite sex, usually a female without her consent. A male can also be raped. In simple language, rape is an act of having forceful sexual intercourse with a person without the person’s consent. Where the consent is obtained by force or fraud, rape is deemed to have taken place.

This is the case of adults. Reported cases have indicated that children and underaged are also victims of rape. Those, who indulge in this are paedophiles. In the eyes of the law, these acts constitute criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment.

That was why the recent alleged gang-rape of a female student of Abia State University by five fellow male students attracted wide public outcries and condemnations. For reasons best known to them, the five tough students, some of whom have been identified, took turn in violating their helpless victim at outside campus students hostel. While the act lasted, the rapists laughed and jeered at the lady. Unable to bear the indignity she had been subjected to, the traumatised lady told her assailants to kill her.

For effect, the rapists recorded the lurid details of the ordeal the lady was subjected to probably to satisfy their maniacal instinct. The video was posted on the internet. The pictures have since induced public outrage.

Surprisingly, both the Abia State Government and the State Police Command insisted that the incident never took place. Abia State University authority maintains the same stance.

The incident has already attracted the attention of Minister of Youth Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and his Police Affairs counterpart, Caleb Olubolade. Abdullahi said the action of the students involved in the rape saga did not represent the character and nature of the Nigerian youths. The Police Affairs Minister on his part said the police authorities in the state had been directed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

This is not the only recent case. Two policemen were dismissed by Kano State Police Command over their complicity in the rape of a 16-year-old girl. Also, a ‘pastor’ is currently standing trial in Akure, Ondo State capital over alleged rape of a 10-year-old girl.

Similarly, a traditional ruler of Ilowa, Osun State, Oba Bukola Alli, is also being prosecuted for alleged rape of a female National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, member in February. Oba Alli was last week granted another bail after the earlier one was revoked in which he spent four months in prison custody. There are many unreported rape cases in the country.

Police statistics posted on the website showed that 1,952 cases were reported in 2009 alone. But Amnesty Internationl report said the figure could be higher given the country’s population of over 150 million.

Rape is universally regarded as a crime against humanity. It is a violation of United Nations and Africa Charter on Human and People’s Right to dignity of human person.

It is also a violation of Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as ammended which in subsection (a) says that “no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.”

Ironically, it somewhat appears difficult to secure conviction for rape. For instance, the law requires a victim to report the incident to the police immediately after the offence is committed. The proof, such as semen stain, torn underwear and bruises must be intact.

The police would then call a medical practitioner, who will examine the victim and confirm that she has been raped. It is very unlikely that any rape victim would want to expose herself to such further humiliation in order to convince anyone that she had been violated. That probably explains why most victims don’t come forward.

It is against this background that lawmakers should take a second look at the provisions of both the criminal and penal codes as well as criminal procedure act in order to make conviction for rape less rigorous. Rapists are psychopath and social misfits. They deserve nothing but maximum penalty of life imprisonment which the law prescribes.