A 22-year-old man, Sulyman Babatunde, has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a minor (name withheld) by a Kwara State high court.

The trial Judge, Justice Adenike Akinpelu, while delivering judgement, said the prosecution proved the case of rape against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.

Shortly before the sentence, the defendant pleaded with the judge for mercy and promised to change his ways.

But Muslimat Nagode, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the state’s Ministry of Justice, said the section under which he was charged “gives no discretionary power to the court.”

In the course of the trial, the prosecutor told the court that the defendant met the victim at the Post Office of Ilorin and deceived her that there was an evil spirit roving over her that needed spiritual cleansing to prevent death.

Speaking with City & Crime after the judgement, Nagode who hailed the decision, said, “The minor was raped in through her vagina and anus.