20 year old female Student, of Edie Macaulay Village, Gloucester, on Tuesday 11th August 2020 testified before Magistrate Abdul Sheriff at Freetown Magistrate Court No. 4 about what transpired on Friday 17th July 2020 at the above address, where the complainant was alleged to have been maliciously beaten into a coma. The accused were charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threatening to kill, public insult and provocation among others.
Both accused persons were on bail, but after hearing the statement, bail for the second accused continued while the first accused was remanded. Asked if she knew the two accused persons, Zainab Ngaima Koroma and Kadie Sannoh, first and second accused respectively, the witness replied in the affirmative.
She said on Friday 17th July at around 5:00pm, “I and my brother’s wife were at home when a group of men entered our premises together with the first accused. She led the team into our premises and claimed she was there to clean, which she was not authorised to do. I and my brother’s wife were frightened as the group of men were holding various harmful instruments such as cutlasses, old shovels, sticks and knives in their hands. I came outside the corridor together with my brother’s wife to actually stop them, when the first accused Zainab Ngaima Koroma started abusing our whole family and directly insulting my mother.”
She testified that the first accused threatened her and her brother’s wife, saying she would make sure one of them dies. She said she was afraid and felt bad hearing such words from the first accused she called aunty. She said the men then stopped the work they were doing, and the second accused and one Daisy implored the first accused to apologise to the witness’ mother, adding she refused and instead continued abusing her.
She said her mother then called a ‘juju man’ to do something for her, which led the first accused to attack her, hitting her on the head causing her to collapse. Later she was taken to the Akon police station and reported the matter, after which she was issued medical papers. She further testified that she was hospitalised at Connaught hospital, where she recovered “… and realised I am in a room and hospitalised”. The defence for both accused persons were absent to cross-examine the complainant, which led the Magistrate to ask if the two accused could represent themselves for the cross-examination. The two accused persons agreed.
The first accused asked:
Q.1 You said I did abuse you and your mother?
- Yes, you did.
Q.2 You said I and Anita pushed you and you fell down, is that true?
- Yes, you did.
The second accused asked:
Q.1 You said your mother drove away the guys I came with?
- Yes, she did.
Police prosecutor Inspector Gloria V.S. Macaulay prosecuted the matter.
The matter was adjoined to Thursday 13th August 2020. MSK/13/08/2020
By Mohamed Samba Kamara