Lasun Alagbe
Police PRO, Frank Mba, has given some insight on what could assist the police in the investigation of rape cases.
According to him, apart from the fact that it is important for a woman to promptly report the case, she should not bathe nor change her clothing before reporting.
Besides, if the rape process involved drugging, mbaqanga said, the woman should not urinate before reporting to police.
He noted this on Friday when he spoke on a TVC programme on the issue of raping, which has become rampant.
In the last few days alone, two undergraduates – Vera Omozuwa and Barakat Bello – were raped and murdered, alongside other cases.
Also, Busola, wife of popular musician, Simi Dakolo, has revisited her claim that COZA Pastor,Biodun Fatoyinbo, raped her 17 years ago.
Mba said, “If there is a condom pack there or a used condom, don’t even touch it and, for the woman, don’t shower. Don’t change your clothing and if it is a case where we suspect it is a date rape where probably drug was used or a drug facilitated rape, then the woman has the additional responsibility to make sure that she doesn’t urinate except it is a situation where if she doesn’t urinate, she might suffer something. She will need to urinate in the hospital because the first urine after that incident might help us determine the kind of drug that was laced in her drink and if for example you suspect it is a drug-induced rape, don’t dispose any glass cup there or even the drink whether it is a wine. Leave it there for us.”
He added that the physical crime scene should also not be tampered with.
Here are his submissions:
”Rape is a very serious criminal offence and rape it is not fun. Rape is not sex. Rape is not lovemaking. Rape is violence. It is a very extreme form of torture. It is a life threatening event. It is totally humilating. As a matter fact, you can define rape as robbery of another persons essense, dignity and the worst form of assault on any woman. It is a serious thing.
“Unfortunately for us, it is one of those crimes that have posed a lot of problems in managing, in presenting, in investigating sometimes and in succeefully prosecuting.
“Most cases of rape are unreported. As a matter of fact, some statistics say between 60% to 90% of rape cases are unreported. It is even worse when they are cases that have to do with incest and molestation of children. A lot of this cases are unreported.
“The fundamental problem for us as investigators are three. Number one is the fact that a lot of rape cases are reported very late and the fact that they are reported late, it impacts on the quality and the success of investigations. The longer you stay in reporting a rape case, the higher the probability or the chances that evidence and the crime scene will be mismanaged.
“Although there is no status bar limiting the time you can report a rape case, you can even report 12 months later, but the earlier you report a rape case, the better and higher the chances of success.
”As a matter of fact, in most crimes, how the crime scene is managed determines the success of investigations and people must remember that rape cases are even very special in the sense that in a rape case, there are two immediate crime scenes.
“The first crime scene is place where the crime took place whether it is in a room, a car, a bush path or in a church like the case of Uwa. That particular place where the crime took place is a major crime scene.
“The second crime scene is the body of the woman. In fact, the body of the victim is a walking crime scene. It is a living crime scene. It is a mobile crime scene. And how we manage both the physical as well as that living crime scene will determine the success of an investigation.
“Let me give a few tips on how we can manage this because, often, before the police get to the crime scene, a lot of persons have messed up the crime scene. Whenever there is a rape, the first thing is to leave the physical crime scene intact. Don’t adulterate them, don’t take anything out of the place, don’t alter the position of any object, don’t touch anything. Don’t even flush the toilet.
“If there is a condom pack there or a used condom, don’t even touch it and, for the woman, don’t shower. Don’t change your clothing and if it is a case where we suspect it is a date rape where probably drug was used or a drug facilitated rape, then the woman has the additional responsibility to make sure that she doesn’t urinate except it is a situation where if she doesn’t urinate, she might suffer something. She will need to urinate in the hospital because the first urine after that incident might help us determine the kind of drug that was laced in her drink and if for example you suspect it is a drug-induced rape, don’t dispose any glass cup there or even the drink whether it is a wine. Leave it there for us.
“This is the major problem we have in Nigeria. You get to the crime scene and the whole place is messed up and even when police officers take finger prints, we get multiple fingerprints making investigations run into very murky water”
