Femi Olaleye: Doctor says no evidence that survivor was raped

30 Mar Femi Olaleye: Doctor says no evidence that survivor was raped

A health practitioner, Uwom Eze, on Wednesday, testified before the Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court in the Ikeja area of Lagos in the alleged rape case involving Femi Olaleye, a doctor.

Mr Olaleye, the managing director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, is facing a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration of his wife’s niece, offences which he is alleged to have committed between March 2020 and November 2021.

In December, he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The expert witness presented a review of the medical examination conducted on the survivor.

The health practitioner is a clinical forensic physician with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo state’s capital.

Mr Eze is the first witness presented to the court by the defence team.

On 4 January, Oyebimpe Akinbunmi, a health practitioner, who was a witness from the prosecution, appeared before the court to present the findings of her medical examination on the survivor.

She told the court that the findings show that there was “repeated forceful penetrative” injury on the vagina of the survivor.

However, during Wednesday’s hearing, Mr Eze conducted a review of the medical report of the survivor earlier presented to the court by Ms Akinbunmi.

The health practitioner told the court that the medical examination conducted on the survivor by Ms Akinbunmi did not meet the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for medical examination of sexual assault.

Mr Eze said the survivor’s vaginal features stated in the report were not that of injuries but “normal features” of a vagina.

He added that the medical report presented to the court was “predicated” on vaginal features and testimony of the survivor.

“This (referring to the report) doesn’t follow the standard. There is no evidence whatsoever. The features in the vagina were not that of injuries but normal features,” he explained.

“The document was predicated on the vaginal features and account of the survivor.

“It is not the standard to predicate your test on only vagina features and survivor’s testimony.”

Speaking further, he said the survivor was not subjected to a vaginal swab test during the medical examination to determine the presence of seminal fluid.

The doctor said the survivor was not subjected to the forensic toxicology test to determine the drugs allegedly taken after the sexual assault.

“There is no documentation of any swab. It is a must requirement of any sexual assault test,” he told the court.

“Swab from the vagina was not taken to help determine the presence of seminal fluid. No swab from the mouth was taken.

“None of these were carried out in the medical. No documentation on DNA tests or the reason why it was not carried out.

“If the alleged pills were given to her in all the alleged four rounds of sexual escapade, a forensic toxicology test on the blood should have been conducted to determine the alleged pills taken.

“No physical, forensic, biomedical was documented during the medical examination.”

The doctor argued that the medical examination should have been conducted 72 hours after the alleged sexual incident.

“The golden time for examination is 72 hours. They are lacking here. It makes it difficult to objectively evaluate sexual contact,” he testified.

“There was no physical evidence of blunt force trauma of the vagina. The report shows that there was no sign of bruises, injuries, and lacerations on the vagina of the survivor.”

Cross-examination

During cross-examination, Babajide Boye, the prosecution lawyer, asked the medical doctor what excuse he gave his employer for appearing in court today.

“I work for the UCH. I am also a public servant. As a consultant, I am entitled to one or two days of private practice. I was engaged to do a medical review of the medical report,” he responded.

Mr Boye asked the doctor what his mode of transportation was from Ibadan to Lagos.

“I came by public transport from Ibadan. I lodged in a hotel. This morning, one of the lawyers came to pick me up from the hotel,” he said.

Asked if he knows the survivor, the medical doctor said he has not met the survivor before or known the competence of the health practitioner from Mirabel Centre.

After further cross-examination by Mr Boye, Rahman Oshodi, the judge, fixed 26 April for further hearing of the matter.