The Offence Of Rape

Rape in legal parlance means an unlawful carnal
knowledge of a woman or girl without her consent or with her consent if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind or by fear or harm, or by means of false or fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act or in the case of a married woman by impersonating her husband (section 357 of the criminal code).
It has been held that the most important ingredient of the offence of rape is penetration. However penetration with or without emission is sufficient even where the hymen was not raptured. The slightest penetration will be sufficient to constitute the act of sexual intercourse. See Ogunbayo .v. The State (2007) 5 SCM 154;
In a charge of rape or unlawful carnal knowledge  of a woman or girl without her consent, it is the duty of the prosecution to proof the following:-
1.    That the accused had sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix.
2.    That the act of sexual intercourse was done without her consent or that the consent was obtained by fraud, force, threat, intimidation, deceit or impersonation
3.    That the prosecutrix was not the wife of the accused.
4.    That the accused had the mens rea, the intention to have sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix without her consent or that the accused acted recklessly not caring whether the prosecution consented or not.
5.    That there was penetration. See Ogunbayo v. the state (2007) NWLR (pt 1035)157.
In situations where rape is denied by the accused the evidence of corroboration that the court must look for are-:
a.    Medical evidence showing injury to the private part or other parts of the body which may have been occasioned in a struggle.
b.    Semen stains on her clothes or the clothes of the accused or on the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed.
In Posu v. the state (2011) Vol. 193 LRCN, the accused persons denied the charge of rape brought against them but the evidence of one Dr Itokim Michael of Ipokia General Hospital who examined the prosecutrix showed that she was soaked with blood, there were bruises on her thighs, semen in her vulva and tiny bruises at the entrance of her private part. This evidence proved that it was no longer a contested fact that the act of rape took place.
Note that as a rule prudence and settled course of practice, it is for the court to seek for corroboration in all cases of rape. This is so because it has been proven to be unsafe to convict for the offence of rape on the uncorroborated testimony of the prosecutrix. See Inspector General of police v. Sunmonu (1957) WRNLR p23. What then is corroboration? Corroboration means evidence which confirms the evidence of the prosecutrix. In Posu’s case (supra) the learned trial judge found the offence of rape proved. He found corroboration of the testimony of PW2 in the evidence adduced by PW1, the medical report as well as the circumstance under which the offence was perpetrated.
Rape victims usually lack the courage to speak out or report their experiences to law enforcement agencies due to negative societal attitude prevalent in such crime. Rape thrives in secrecy and in a culture where victims are even blamed for what happens to them, instead of the perpetrators. This has made a lot of rape cases to have gone unreported. The purpose of the criminal law is to prevent harm to the society. The offence of rape is by every standard a grave offence which often leaves the victim traumatised and dehumanised. I appreciate the review of the lighter sentence to life imprisonment as punishment for rape.

Nkechi Bright Ewere