The mother of the alleged victim of rape in the rape trial of Bubacarr Keita brought the curtain down on her testimony by saying she held her former son-in-law as her own son.
“We had a good relationship. I held him as my own son,” the businesswoman told the high court in Bundung on Thursday when asked by prosecuting lawyers to describe her relationship with the accused.
The woman earlier on gave evidence on how she told Mr Keita’s sister she was also leaving after Mr Keita had walked out of their family meeting in Lamin.
“I then told Awa Nding I’m also leaving since he (Keita) has left. The reason [for this meeting] is to protect him but since he has refused, we are also going home,” she testified.
The prosecuting lawyer Alasan Jobe then sparked dissension from the defence when he said: “Now here you are, you were trying to protect the accused person, you were trying to discuss this at a family level and there he was acting all angry and in fact saying he was going to report to the police. Tell us what…”
The defence lawyer Lamin Camara while rejecting the remarks said: “Sorry My Lord, I will have to object to that submission. No one is trying to protect anyone. That is not the subject matter of this dispute, no one is protecting anyone.”
The judge then said: “Senior counsel your objection is noted. Under circumstances, you’re leading your witness, just lead her by asking her a single question at a time, you cannot impregnate your question and insinuate and make things.”
Returning, the prosecuting lawyer said: “Tell us what you did next?”
According to the witness, they entered her older daughter’s car and left for home. But they ended up at Bundung Police Station.
She testified: “We entered [older daughter’s] car when coming home and I told [older daughter] you can go home and in the morning I will come to the house for us to discuss but the kids said Bubacarr Keita said he will go to police, so we should also go to the police and report [lodge a complaint].
“We then came directly to Bundung Police from Lamin. When we came to Bundung Police, they asked us where we came from. We told them [older daughter] comes from Tabokoto, that’s where she is living her marriage and I live at Latrikunda. The police then said since it was in Tabokoto, we should take the case to Piccadilly police.
“Police then escorted us and asked us where Bubacarr Keita was. We told them he had gone home. We went to the house but we did not find him there. The police called him and told him we are here at your house. The police then told him ‘meet us at Piccadilly Police, we’ll wait for you there’. The police then escorted us to Piccadilly Police where we waited for Bubacarr.
“Bubacarr then came and met us there. They asked him but he denied, he did not impregnate the child. It was already late, around 4am and the police said we should go home and they left Bubacarr behind the counter. They told us we should come back around 10am in the morning. When we came back, they were speaking among themselves, going inside and coming out. They then said they would transfer the case to Banjul.”
The witness said the police did ask them questions and that they wrote their statements. She however said did not know who was writing the statement, though she knew he was a police officer.
In her final statement, the witness said she had a good relationship with Mr Keita whom she termed as her own son.
“You have come to the end of your testimony. I just want to ask you a general question. Tell us what was your general relationship with Bubacarr before this incident?” prosecuting lawyer Alasan Jobe asked.
“We had a good relationship. I held him as my own son,” the witness replied.
Mr Keita’s lawyer Lamin Camara then stood up and asked: “’My relationship with Bubacarr Keita is cordial, I termed him as my son’. Ma’am, you believed in your daughter’s allegation before hearing from your son. Is that correct?”
“I’d said I would sit with Bubacarr Keita and discuss with him,” the witness responded.
“Did you or did not believe in your daughter’s allegation before sitting down with Bubacarr Keita?” Camara quizzed again.
“Yes, because I asked her if she ever had an affair with any man and she said no. I believed her and I also didn’t believe her. That unless I sit and discuss with Bubacarr Keita. I did not want to believe it until after I had sat with Bubacarr Keita,” the witness replied.
“My Lord we can take a date but my question is still not answered but let’s take a date,” Camara reacted.
The case returns next week when cross-examination is set to continue.
