Voinjama – A 21-year-old man, Zayzay Massaquoi has been transferred to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Voinjama for allegedly raping a 7-year-old female in Salayea District, Lofa County.
The alleged rapist was transferred to Voinjama on Tuesday, 4 September 2018, from the Salayea Magisterial Court in Salayea District after he allegedly committed the act on 25 August 2018 in that part of the country.
He was transferred to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court after being charged by the Salayea Magisterial Court Salayea Magisterial Court for rape, with court document indicating that Massaquoi intentionally, recklessly and criminally carried out the act against the 7-year-old.
Under Liberian law, rape is a violation of section 14.70 of the New Penal Law and a felony of the first degree.
Rape cases are above the jurisdiction of a magisterial court and are therefore, legally mandatory to be transferred from lower courts to a much higher one such as a circuit court for prosecution.
PUNCH recalls that rape and gruesome killings among other negative acts against women and children are on the rise in Lofa County, particularly in Zorzor and Salayea Districts.
Twelve years after the end of an internecine conflict, sexual violence continues to pose a significant threat to the dignity and lives of women and children across Liberia.
The social breakdown that occurred during 14 years of brutal conflict, in which sexual violence was rampant, has left a profound imprint on the country, especially with not much done aimed at holistically addressing the issue during the period that spanned the long search for peace.
The rape of minors is the most frequently reported incident of sexual and gender-based violence in the country.
According to a UN Women Report, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) is a pervasive problem in many societies around the world. It is a human rights violation and is an impediment to the advancement of the survivors who are often women and girls, affecting their participation in social, political, and economic activities.
In Liberia, UN Women is leading the way in efforts to address the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence women and girls are faced with through a joint program between the Government of Liberia and the United Nations.
PUNCH has been told that the case of the 7-year-old unfolded while she and her parents were on their farm producing palm oil when the alleged rapist passed by and requested that the minor accompanies him to where he was going so that she brings back for her father a LRD$10 worth of palm.
PUNCH understands that the rape survivor’s parents told police investigators that upon the return of their child, her clothes and hair on her head were all dirty, which prompted her mother to have asked what had happened to her.
According to the parents, the 7-year-old narrated that it was the accused, Zayzay Massaquoi, who threw her unto the ground and began a forceful attempt to have sexual intercourse with her, but indicated that his manhood was too large and could not successfully gain entrant into her private part, adding that, Zayzay later resorted to using his finger which she said he succeeded in inserting into her private part.
“I was crying but no one could hear me because he covered my mouth,” the parents quote the survivor as saying.
PUNCH is told that as a result of this, the survivor was seen bleeding profusely, prompting her parents to have rushed the minor to the hospital for medical examination, which later proven that she was sexually tempered with.
Quoting medical report from the Current Hospital in Zorzor, Lofa County, sources revealed that it was established that there was a forceful penetration on the survival’s private part.
Meanwhile, Zayzay has been remanded at the Voinjama Central Prison, in Lofa County, while awaiting court trial.
