French teacher forcibly kissed and pushed me onto a mattress: Victim tells court in the Labone sexual harassment case.
French teacher forcibly kissed and pushed me onto a mattress: Victim tells court in the Labone sexual harassment case.
The second prosecution witness, the victim of the alleged sexual harassment at Labone Senior High School, has told the Domestic Violence and Support Unit (DOVVSU) District court that, among other things, her French teacher, the accused, allegedly forcibly kissed her and inserted his fingers in her private parts.
Godwin Adigbli is standing trial on charges of indecent assault but has pleaded not guilty and is on a GHC50,000 bail.
In her witness statement, admitted into evidence by the Domestic Violence and Victim Support District Court, the witness described her ordeal at the hands of the accused as a devastating experience.
She told the court that the French teacher, who had previously accused her of hiding from him, asked her to send his bag to his office.
The witness indicated that the teacher had been flirtatious and made suggestive comments towards her previously.
She narrated that while she was there, he forcibly pulled her by the waist toward him, kissed her, and pushed her onto a mattress in the storeroom.
“The accused person stopped saying such words and thought it was over. I eventually arrived at his office, where he unlocked the door and told me to bring his bag inside. I did not expect him to do anything bad to me when I entered the office.
He forcibly held my waist and began kissing me roughly in his office, so I hit him across his face and other parts of his body to make him let me go, but all efforts proved futile because he was stronger than me.
He then dragged me into a room in the French lab where there was a student mattress and a fridge with a sink.
“The accused said he wanted to suck my breast; he then forcibly put his finger into my vagina. It was a very devastating experience.
The accused pushed me onto the mattress in the storeroom, unbuckled his belt, brought out his penis, and tried to put it into my mouth,” she stated in her witness testimony.
She added that in an attempt to defend herself, she bit his manhood after he unbuckled his belt.
During cross-examination by the lawyer representing Godwin Adigbli, Ernest Gbesemete, the victim told the court she did not immediately report the incident because she was writing her final exams.
She eventually called home around 10 pm.
“I then bit his penis hard; he was in serious pain, and that was when I got the opportunity to run out. I went to my classroom in pain and was scared to report the issue because I was writing my final year exams. I was also afraid I would meet him at the exam hall, and that would torment me.
I later went to the dormitory to use the washroom and found blood stains on my underwear. I also felt a sharp pain in my abdomen that hurt badly. I went to the teacher’s Staff Common Room, informed a teacher called Mr Evans, and also called my uncle,” she recounted.
When asked why she did not shout for help or hold onto desks in the French lab when she was being dragged by the accused, she noted that the place was quiet as the adjacent buildings had been locked, and there were no classrooms or students around.
During cross-examination of the first witness, the complainant admitted that a medical report obtained after the incident indicated the victim’s hymen was intact.
Asked why the report showed her outward appearance was normal despite the alleged assault, the complainant explained that he and his wife had assured the victim that everything would be fine.
The case has been adjourned to January 29 for continuation.
