On December 22, 2021, Mr. Ba known as Ousmane, Koranic master in Tivaouane Peulh, was placed under arrest warrant for embezzlement of a minor, pedophile and indecent assault, following complaints from three of his students aged 10, 11 and 12 years old. . The general prosecutor’s office requested 10 years of criminal imprisonment.
At the end of December 2021, N. Fall heard one of her neighbors in Tivaouane Peulh whispering with her little sister F. Fall. Which tickled his curiosity. After the visitor left, she cooked her sister who confided to her that her Koranic master Mr. Ba was touching her. N. Fall alerted his mother. When the latter filed a complaint and the teacher was arrested, two other students, namely MD Sylla and K. Ndiaye, also denounced the touching of which Ba was the author. The latter was brought yesterday before the bar of the criminal chamber of Dakar for embezzlement of a minor, indecent assault and pedophilia.
The three civil parties explained that the accused took advantage of their time in his room which they had to clean, in the absence of his two wives and his children, to satisfy his libido. When they were also there to put accents on verses, he moved his hands around. However Ba did not succeed in penetrating them. Medical certificates established that their hymens remained intact.
The accused categorically denied the facts. According to him, it is MD Sylla’s mother who is behind this story. She always preferred that her daughter go to French school.
Called as a witness, N. Fall made some contradictions in front of the bar. A former student of the Koranic school, MD Diatta maintained that MD Sylla admitted to him that he had been a victim of Ba’s attacks. The fathers and guardians of the civil parties did not claim damages.
From the outset, the representative of the public prosecutor’s office ruled out the misappropriation of a minor because the girls were under the responsibility of the accused within the confines of the Koranic school. He requested acquittal for the indecent assault.
As for pedophilia, three minors under the age of 16 presented medical procedures which confirm that there was touching. At their age, they don’t know the difference between fingering, penetrating or rubbing. The contradictions in the versions of the civil parties do not in any way call into question the accountability and veracity of the facts for which he required 10 years of criminal imprisonment.
“It is surprising that the prosecutor relies on contradictions from civil parties and witnesses to request a firm 10-year sentence. As for the witnesses, they neither saw nor heard anything,” noted the three defense counsel. The latter requested acquittal. The deliberation was set for January 7, 2025.
Hadja Diaw GAYE
