The sacked Deputy Minister of Education II, Mamoud Tarawali was yesterday 16th September 2013 refused bail and relocated to the Pademba Road Prisons (Bambakayaka) when he made his first appearance in court to defend rape and other related charges. Tarawali who is answering to four count charges of rape, wounding with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and wounding before Magistrate Tonia Bernett of the Freetown Magistrate Court No.2, will remain in remand until the next adjourned date of Thursday 19th September 2013, when the court will again decide whether he should go home on bail or continue in prison. The accused who is being represented by eighteen (18) lawyers was spotted shedding tears in the dock and while he was being escorted outside the court. No plea was taken. Detective Police Constable (DPC) 11677 Ibrahim Sorie Conteh of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) told the court that he was on duty on Monday 9th September 2013 at the Family Support Unit (FSU) of the New England Ville Police Station when the 24 years old student reported that she was raped by the then Deputy Education Minister. He said a medical form was instantly issued to the lady with an instruction for her to go for medical examination at the Rainbow Centre, situated at the Cottage Hospital on Fourah Bay Road, east end of Freetown. DPC Conteh explained that on the 10th September 2013, himself, DPC 12143 Turay S and DPC 9293 Dumbuya H. invited the accused and obtained statement from him. He furthered that on the same day, they escorted the accused to search his office to ascertain if the statement of the complainant claiming that the accused had seized her education documents was true. “On the same day, we conducted a search at the private residence on Handel Street in Kingtom, were the alleged rape incident took place,” he disclosed. In a room on the fourth floor of the said house identified by the complainant as the scene of crime, he continued, the police discovered two hand bracelets, a damaged mobile phone, yellow and white hair combs, bed sheet, a lady’s pant and other items. DPC Conteh said at the scene, the victim told them that the items belong to her and that it was during her struggle to escape from the minister’s brutal act that they were dropped and damaged in the room. Lead Defence Lawyer Sulaiman Kabba Koroma cross examined the witness and later applied for bail to be granted to his client. This application was stoutly objected by the Head of Legal and Justice Support Department, Superintendent M.B Kamara aka Legal One, who said the offences being investigated are very serious. He reminded the court that rape is a very grave offence in the law books of Sierra Leone and the world over. The Magistrate ignored the bail application and Ordered that the accused be remanded until the next adjourned date.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 10:43:17 +0000
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