A medical expert, Uwom Eze, testified on Wednesday before Justice Ramon Oshodi of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, in the alleged rape case involving Femi Olaleye, the managing director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation.
Mr Olaleye is facing a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration of his wife’s 16-year-old niece.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Wednesday, the witness presented a review of his medical examination conducted on the survivor.
The medical expert is a clinical forensic physician with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan in Oyo.
Mr Eze is the first witness presented to the court by the defendant’s legal representatives.
The expert told the court that the medical examination presented earlier by the prosecution team witness, Oyebimpe Akinbunmi, did not meet the standard of World Health Organisation (WHO) for medical examination of sexual assault.
Speaking further, Mr Eze said that the survivor’s vaginal features stated in the report were not that of injuries but “normal features” of a vagina.
He noted that the medical report presented to the court was “predicated” on vaginal features and testimony of the survivor.
“This (referring to medical report) doesn’t follow the standard. There is no evidence whatsoever. The features in the vagina were not that of injuries but normal features,” the witness explained.
“The document was predicated on the vaginal features and story of the survivor.
“It is not the standard to predicate your test on only vagina features and survivor’s testimony. No swab, blood, forensic toxicology tests conducted.”
The medical expert added that 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,” Mr Eze told the court.
“Swab from 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 report. 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 not documented during the medical examination.”
The doctor argued that the medical examination should have been conducted within three days 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.”
During cross-examination, Babajide Boye, the prosecution lawyer, asked the medical doctor if he sought permission from his employer to appear in the courtroom.
“I work for the UCH. I’m also a public servant. As a consultant, I’m entitled to one or two days of private practice. I was engaged to do a medical review of the medical report,” Mr Eze 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.
Mr Boye asked the medical expert whether he knew the survivor, the medical doctor said he had not met the survivor before or knew the competence of the health practitioner from Mirabel centre.
The judge adjourned the case till the 26th of April for further hearing of the trial.