A
high court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has sentenced a man,
Aturoti Adeleke, to death by hanging after being found guilty of armed robbery
and rape.
Adeleke
was accused of robbing mostly women and raping them afterward
He
was said to have committed the offences in May last year at Olorunsogo, Adesula
and Ademulegun areas in Ondo town.
During
his trial, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, though his victims identified
him as the one who had robbed and raped them at gunpoint at various times and
places.
One
of the witnesses claimed that she saw the convict a day after she was robbed
and raped, adding that she quickly informed policemen at Fagun Police Station,
who later arrested him.aAnother witness said she could identify Adeleke because
he had once lived in the same house with him, noting that her mother had
catered for him on several occasions.
In
delivering the judgment, Justice S.A. Bola said the testimonies of the
complainants were consistent and the evidences constituted in the testimonies
of the witnesses had been established in the case.
The
judge held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt
and declared Adeleke guilty of all the charges, describing him as a threat to
the society and a serial rapist.
He
said, “The law provides that rape attracts life imprisonment, while armed
robbery attracts a death sentence.”
Tags
Society