A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl after touching her private parts in a one-room dwelling.
The man who was mentioned in the court judgement as the victim’s “dad” pleaded not guilty.
The girl told her mother the defendant entered the room and questioned her about her private parts, referred to as “peeki,” before touching her once and leaving.
The term “peeki” is understood to refer to the child’s vagina, according to the Supreme Court document.
The victim later described the act as painful.
The court heard that the incident occurred while the victim’s sister was asleep and her mother had stepped out to collect a towel from a nearby shack.
The mother took her to the police station where she repeated her account.
She was then taken to hospital and examined by a doctor where no indication of abuse was discovered.
The defendant himself also gave evidence.
The Lord Chief Justice Bishop described him as a “straightforward witness who answered clearly.”
Mr Bishop said: “His evidence reinforced the view I had already taken namely that the relationship between him and the Complainant’s mother was tempestuous”.
“I accept that the mother was prone to a loss of temper, would act impulsively, and that the account which he gave of a furious quarrel concerning his father’s alleged relationship with his partner which descended into serious action on the part of the mother, including in a fit of temper driving her car, with the intention of driving it at this witness is true”.
Mr Bisho said he was confident that “the mother weaponised the account her daughter gave to do this witness harm and did so partly out of distress at what she believed to happen to her daughter and partly as a way of wreaking revenge on the man with whom she was estranged”.
The victim’s identity is protected by a court order, and the judge has prohibited the publication of any details that may reveal her identity.
