of age. Assuming without conceding that she had consented, the
question then would be, could she have legally consented to sex?
Emphatically, I say no. In any event, since the accused had
threatened her with a knife that he would kill her should she refuse
to undress, is in itself sufficient evidence to prove that she did not
consent even if she could have legally done so.
Again, I resolve issues 3 and 4 in favour of the prosecution as
having proved beyond reasonable doubt that the act is unlawful
and that the victim is under the age of sixteen years now amended
to eighteen years of age and I so hold.
Having resolved as above, I now proceed to issues 2, 5 and 6
formulated by the prosecution namely: Whether the act of carnal knowledge was by the accused
person;
Whether the prosecution has proved its case beyond
reasonable doubt; and
Whether the accused raised any defence?
In order to resolve the issue as to whether the accused had carnal
knowledge of the victim (PW 1), it is pertinent to look at the law
on corroboration or otherwise to determine whether the evidence
of PW 1 has or had in anyway been corroborated by the evidence
of any of the witnesses.
Section 179 of the Evidence Act, 1994 provides:“Corroboration consists of independent evidence from
which a reasonable inference can be drawn which
confirms and supports in some material particular the
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