A 13-year-old girl has narrated the sad experience of how her lesson teacher, Charles Munroe, raped her in Lagos state.
According to the pupil, the teacher invited her to his place on the pretext of showing her something – which wasn’t weird being her lesson teacher – but ended up raping her.
The incident reportedly occurred at Ajangbadi area of Lagos. Narrating her ordeal, she said;
“Mr. Munroe teaches my mum’s friend’s children. Through my mum’s friend, she started giving me private lessons in August 2018. In January this year, he visited me in the school and asked me if I had a boyfriend. I told him I did not have. He came the second time and told me he wanted to be my boyfriend. I told him I was not interested.
“On January 16, he came to my school again and asked me to follow him home to see something. Being my lesson teacher, I agreed to follow him. I never thought he could think of having sex with me. I wanted to shout, but he covered my mouth. When he was done, he threatened to kill me if I told my parents about it. I was scared and didn’t tell them.
“On the second occasion, he came to my school and told me that there was a textbook he wanted me to read. He took me to a place and asked me to remove my clothes. When I refused, he forcefully had sex with me.”
However, the lesson teacher has denied the allegations, making shocking claims in court that it was the victim who seduced him.
He even went on to say that he succumbed to her advances so as to let peace reign. He said;
“I am a graduate and I have been teaching for some years now. I was engaged to give private lessons to the girl at home. We both became close in the process and she shared her burdens with me. In all honesty, she told me she was 15 years old. On February 19, she visited me as she normally did. She had wanted me to be with her even when I resisted.
“At a point, my refusal caused a serious disagreement between us. I succumbed to her advances to let peace reign. We had sex based on her consent. I never knew before now that she was still a child under the law and was not capable of giving consent. The first one took place in my house. I asked her several times if she had a boyfriend just to discourage her from being close to me”
Punch reported that the presiding magistrate, Mrs O. Sule-Hamzat, did not take the teacher’s plea. She granted a remand application filed by the police, asking that the defendant be kept in the Kirikiri prison. The presiding magistrate also directed that a copy of the case file be sent to the Directorate of the Public Prosecutions for legal advice and adjourned the matter till May 2, 2019.
