By Yusufu S. Bangura
On Friday, May 5, during the closing of January criminal session at the High Court presided over by Justice John Bosco Alieu, twenty-two years old Tenneh Brima was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for killing her daughter.
State counsel, Alberta Kargbo alleged that the convict on Friday 30th October 2020 in Freetown murdered her two-year-old biological daughter, Sai Sitta Kamara.
Giving a summary of the matter, Justice Alieu said it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the guilty of the accused and for them to prove it they called three witnesses who testified in respect of the matter.
He saidthe uncle of the convict, Mathew Brima, was the first person to testify informing the court that he saw the convict that very morning with the kid tied on her back before they left, adding that after sometime he was later called by an unknown person who informed him about the incident.
Justice Allieu said that PW1 further told the court that upon his arrival at the scene, he met the baby wrapped in a mat, adding that when he inquired about what had happened with the baby they told him that the wrapper of the convict got loosed while trying to cross a stream and the baby fell into the water.
The Judge said the autopsy report corroborated the testimony of the convict’s uncle that, the baby died of normal wet drowning with no physical assault.
After the prosecution closed their case, the convict in her defense said she relied on her statement made to the police, where she said on that day she was undergoing stressful situations from her uncle’s wife, whom she had accused of being a witch.
The convict reiterated what her uncle told the court, stating that she left the house and while crossing the river the baby got heavier on her back and while trying to remove the baby from her back, the baby slipped and eventually drowned into the water.
She further told the police that after the baby had fell into the water, she looked for the her for nearly 3 minutes.
She said she later saw the baby and removed her from the water. She added she later rushed with the baby to a medical doctor for check-up and that the doctor informed her that the baby had died.
After giving his summary, Justice Allieu asked the jurors to go and look at the evidence and return their verdict. After 30 minutes, the jurors returned with a guilty verdict.
After the guilty verdict of the jurors, everyone in the court room was shocked and Justice Allieu asked them twice if they agreed on their verdict and they replied in affirmative.
