Accused changed his mind denying the charges
pressed against him; he argued that he had
previously acknowledged the charges out of fear;
when confused by the questions of the court, he
finally made a confessional statement which
concurred with those of the preliminary inquiries
and the State Counsel of Faso;
Before the submissions of the Legal
Department, the victim, through her civilly liable
person decided to claim for damages parallel to
prosecution amounting to CFA F 500,000 (five
hundred thousand);
After parties were done presenting their
arguments, and summarized the facts, the Legal
Department requested that the charges of rape
against the Accused be maintained and that he be
sentenced to 10 (ten) years’ imprisonment with 3
(three) years suspended sentence and a CFA F
1,000,000 (one million) suspended sentence;
The Accused got scared and
apologetically asked for clemency;
II- PROCEDURE
A- PROSECUTION
Whereas Tall Aliou is charged with the
rape of Belem Afissatou as provided by article
533(10) of the Penal Code; which according to
provisions thereof, for rape to be established, its
material and moral elements should be
established;
Whereas the material scope of rape covers
violence, threat, constraint or surprise with the
sole purpose of having sexual intercourse with
somebody;
Whereas as it is, the above-mentioned
Accused acknowledged while in court, to have
chased the victim, caught her, forcefully lead her
into the bushes; that while there, the thought of
having sexual intercourse with her came to his
mind; that he informed the victim of his desire;
that she did not give any answer accepting or
refusing; that he then decided to have sexual
intercourse with her; that after struggling briefly,
his victim finally gave in; that his sexual
intercourse with the victim was consensual;
Whereas the facts of the case allow us to
determine that the victim did not consent; that in
fact, by chasing the victim, catching her and
forcefully pulling her into the bushes was
constraining on the victim; that even if she had