By Sainabou Sambou
Omar Jibbi Njie, an accused who had beaten his 5-year-old girl child repeatedly with praying beads was Wednesday, 15th December, 2021 ordered not to touch or see the child who he has assaulted for a period of 12 months.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charge of common assault pressed against him when appeared before Magistrate Colley of the Kanifing Magistrate Court.
But according to the narration, First Class L Gibba told the court that the incident took place on the 1st December at 18:00 hours when the victim was at Arabic school when the father of the girl (name withheld) came to the school to take her home.
She explained that the child refused to go with the father because the child said the father always beat her, and on their way going the father brought out his praying beads from his pocket and beat the girl who was crying. “That was the time a woman who was passing by told her father to forgive the child,” First Class Gibba added.
She went on in her narration that the accused went with the child up to Serrekunda Market and while the child was still crying, the father still used the praying beads to beat her, again. It was at that time one man took the child away from him to his own shop and asked the child whether she knows her mother’s telephone number.
She further stated that the mother of the child was called to come to the shop for her five-year-old girl child. She said it is her mother that reported the matter to Serrekunda police station and the accused, the girl’s father, was arrested and charged to court for trial.
However, the accused Omar Jibbi Njie begged for court mercy saying that he will never beat his daughter again and has regretted beating the child.
He said that he is a family man and has to take care of his family and what happened was a mistake and will not be repeated again. He added that he loves the child that’s one among the reasons he used to always taking her from school and if he know this will happen he wouldn’t have taken the child from school.
In her judgment, Magistrate Colley said the accused is a first time offender while he granted him a court bail in the sum of D10,000 in default to serve one year in prison.
Further to that, the Magistrate said the accused should compensate the child with sum of D4000 and should pay D1000 to the court and another D5000 should be paid as for file of the case in default to serve one year in prison.
The court finally placed an order on him not to see or touch the child for twelve months.
According to his particulars of offense, Omar Jibbi Njie on the 1st December 2021, at Serrekunda unlawfully assaulted one girl (name withheld) by beating her with a praying bead.