The mother of one of the girls allegedly raped by Emmanuel Matthew, a pastor, told an FCT High Court on Friday that the accused used a white bedspread and red curtain to rape her daughter.
Mr. Mathew, 52, who is the General Overseer of The Choice Bible Church, Mpape, Abuja, and proprietor of the primary school where his alleged victims attended, was arraigned on a six-count charge.
At the continuation of trial, Jacintha Ejiofor told the court that her daughter was molested by the pastor in his bedroom on March 12, 2012.
While being cross-examined by Ejike Orji, a lawyer from the Attorney- General’s office, the mother said her child, one of the pupils in the accused’s school, was lured into his bedroom for unknown reasons.
She said: “My daughter told me that the pastor laid a white bedspread and a red curtain after which the accused inserted his finger into her private part, then used his manhood afterwards.”
Ms. Ejiofor said one of the alleged victims’ mother, had earlier confronted the accused with her pastor on the same allegation but the accused asked them to come back the next day for discussion and settlement.
She said the other woman and her pastor went back as arranged but were arrested by the police, following a complaint made by the accused at Mpape Police Station.
Ms. Ejiofor further told the court that on her way to see the accused person concerning what her daughter told her she discovered that he was not in the school premises with his wife.
She said that few moments later, she and her daughter were arrested by two policemen from Mpape Police Station accompanied by the accused wife.
She said that on getting to the police station, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) interrogated her daughter.
“My daughter narrated all she had told me to the police, then the police asked the three girls to describe the accused bedroom and they mentioned seven items.
“When the police got to the accused house he confirmed five items but the white bedspread and the red curtain mentioned by the girls were missing,” she said.
She added that the DPO asked that they all go to the Asokoro General Hospital for medical examination of the victims and the accused.
According to her, the hospital confirmed that the girls were no longer virgins.
The police prosecutor, Stanley Nwodo, had earlier told the court that the accused raped two seven-year-olds and a nine-year-old pupil on different occasions in his (pastor’s) school.
The offence, Mr. Nwodo said, contravened the provisions of Section 283 of the Penal Code.
According to the law, a convict is liable to 14 years imprisonment or with an option of fine, or both.
However, Mr. Mathew pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge. He was granted bail in the sum of N500,000 and a surety in like sum.
(NAN)
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