Some days you're just grateful for the breadth of the law, which covers and provide punitive measures for every crime committed. But here in Nigeria, the problem most times comes down to implementation. In the case of the 15-year-old boy remanded for raping a 3-year-old in Ebonyi state, the law seems to be taking effect.
The boy, whose name was withheld, was ordered by a Magistrate court in Abakaliki to be remanded in the Ebonyi State Juvenile and Remand home and his case file to be transferred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice. The Chief Magistrate, Nnenna Onuoha, had also ordered that the parents of the accused to be in court on that Thursday.
How did it happen?
According to PUNCH Metro, the boy raped the girl on 9th September 2019, at Umu-Chima Agba village in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state. It was alleged that the boy had lured the girl into an uncompleted building. And when he was sexually molesting the girl, her shouts called the attention of a passerby who stopped to check what was happening and then raised alarm. Thereafter, the accused boy was arraigned in court on one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.
According to Inspector Mbam Chinedu, the police prosecutor, the offence was punishable under Section 34 (2) of the Ebonyi State Child Right Law and Related Matters, 2010.
Conclusion
Most parents need to do more in bringing up their boys. Some of them are raised to take liberties on the bases of gender. In turn, this tends to translate into a problem girls bear the brunt of. Parents ought to teach boys the kind of respect that goes beyond its shallow form of pleasantries and the likes. Teach them to respect their sisters and women in general and see them as equals.
Also, teach them consent and everything that comes with it. Tell them to be nice and not expect a reward for it. Seeing crimes like boys hurting little girls is heartbreaking, and you can't help but wonder what was going on in the boy's mind at the time. After all, charity, they say, begins at home.
Also Read: 12-year-old boy rapes 6-year-old sister after watching a sex scene in video game
