Man charged for sexually abusing 13-year-old girl

The Limbe Magistrate Court shall, on March 9, hear a case brought before it against one Ibrahima Aboubakar, for having sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in his Newton neighbourhood in Limbe.

Aboubakar, on February 5, pleaded “not guilty” when the charges were read to him as he was being arraigned before Magistrate Theophilus Tatsi.

According to the charge, Aboubakar, who is already in his 30s, is alleged to have “by force, compelled” the 13-year-old girl to “have sex with him on Thursday, January 21, 2016. But Aboubakar denied the accusation when he was arraigned.

The 13-year-old girl was in court herself. She spent most of the time trying to mop off tears that kept streaming down her cheeks as the justice procedure was going on.

But, basing his arguments on the provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child, Magistrate Tatsi adjourned the matter to March 9, a day after the celebrations of this year’s Women’s Day. He also ruled that, in order to protect the rights of the 13-year-old (names withheld), the matter shall be heard in chambers and not more in an open court. Aboubakar was sent back into custody.