GROUNDS FOR THE DECISION
A- Prosecution
Whereas according to article 533-10 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code, "any act
of sexual penetration, of any nature whatsoever, committed on the person of
another by violence, coercion, threat or surprise constitutes rape"; Whereas,
for the offence to be established, a material act of sexual penetration must
have been carried out; whereas this penetration must have been carried out
against the will of the victim;
Whereas S. A denied the charges against him; whereas he stated at the
hearing that S. Y-w M arrived at his home at around 11 p.m.; whereas
being in his room, he invited her as usual to have carnal intercourse
since she was his girlfriend; that when he put his hand forward to remove
her underwear she refused; that she shouted and he abstained; that he did
not have sexual intercourse with her that night; that however S. Y-w M
occasionally met him in his room where they had sexual intercourse;
When questioned, S. Y-w maintained that the accused invited her to
his house; that when she arrived, he pushed her into his house before taking
a knife with which he forced her to lie on top of him and had sexual
intercourse with her without her consent; however, she acknowledges
that she was the accused's girlfriend and used to visit him at night;
Appearing as a witness, KONDA Fatimata stated in court that this was not
the first time that S. Y-w M had visited her son S. A; that on the night of
September 8, 2019, she heard murmurs in his bedroom; that she therefore
went to knock at the door and demanded that the murmurs stop; that this
is how S. Y-w M departed; that previously the same scene occurred with
her and when she came out of her son's room, she laughed at her before
leaving;
Whereas the medical certificate issued by Dr. KAFANDO Souleymane of
the Bethesta Medical Centre shows that the examination did not find any
sign of violent sexual intercourse;
Whereas from the foregoing there is evidence that S Y-w M was
in the accused's room at a late hour on the night of September 8, 2019, and
that she was his girlfriend; that even if there was sexual intercourse
between the two at that time of the night, it is not