A 29-year-old man accused of raping a girl of eight years has been remanded in police custody.

Kelechi Ebere was on Friday arraigned before an Umuahia magistrate court in Abia State, south-east Nigeria, for allegedly raping a primary three pupil in his one-room apartment where the girl was said to have gone to watch a home video.

The incident took place on the evening of August 28 at Good Shed, Umuahia, where the accused is the manager of a public toilet owned by the Foodstuff Railers and Traders Union Umuahia Ibeku (FRATU).

Ebere pleaded not guilty before the Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. Eunice Ezebuiro, who sat inside her chamber to hear the case, apparently to protect the identity of the victim, who is a minor and is also expected to give evidence against her violator.

After plea was taken from the accused the case was adjourned to September 10 while the magistrate ordered that he be remanded in police custody.

It was learnt that as the girl, a neighbour’s daughter, innocently watched the video, Ebere grabbed her and tied her mouth with cloth before defiling her.

The minor spilled the beans when she narrated her ordeal to her elder sister who in turn informed their mother.

Mother of the victim, Mrs. Joy Emeribe, a widow, said she was shocked when she saw her daughter and since it was already late, she decided to preserve the evidence by not cleaning up the daughter, who had bruises on her private part and her legs smeared with sperm. She also did not wash the pant she wore when she was assaulted.

Mrs. Emeribe recalled that she had warned her children against entering the room of their co-tenant after he had attempted to seduce the senior sister of the victim with N500.

She said she wants the accused to explain “why he violated my little daughter,” adding: “I don’t even know if he did it for ritual purposes.”

*Photo: Police IG, MD Abubakar.