By CHARLES IWUOHA

A 39-year-old man, Mboyi Eche, has been dragged before a Magistrate’s Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, for allegedly raping his 15-year-old sister-in-law, Sopuruchi, and later entering into blood covenant with the victim to divorce his wife and marry her.

The suspect, News Express gathered, on September 30, 2020, went to their farm at Odeligbo community in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state, where he cornered and defiled his wife’s younger sister.

To prevent the teenager from exposing the act to her sister, Eche reportedly pledged to divorce his wife and marry the victim.

He was said to have, later, sealed the promise with a blood covenant with the girl inside the farm and threatened that she would die if she ever spilled the beans. The suspect later confessed that it was not a one-off incident.

However, luck ran out on them when the unsuspecting wife caught her husband trying to make love to her sister after she made an early return from nearby village market on October 3 evening.

“When his wife got home and found Eche loosening her younger sister’s brassier, she raised alarm and the truth became known,” a source disclosed.

The suspect, who later admitted having carnal knowledge of his sister-in-law several times before the day they were caught, however, claimed that he loved her and did not see what happened as rape.

He confessed: “I did it. I love her, even though I’m married to her elder sister. I don’t care whatever you call it. If you call it rape, fine; if you call it real affair, I had with the girl, fine. The truth is that I love her and we have been having sex all this while. The one that took place on October 3, 2020, was just the last. I love her, because she is better than her sister and that’s why I want to marry her. She gives me joy than her sister.”

The suspect was eventually arraigned before the Magistrate’s Court on one-count charge of unlawful sexual intercourse on Wednesday, October7, 2020.

The presiding magistrate, Nnenna Onuoha, in her ruling, said the court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.

Onuoha directed that the suspect be remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Abakaliki, while his case should be transferred to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions in the state for necessary legal action. She adjourned the matter till October 23, 2020, for report of compliance.

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