Housemaid who accused Lebanese boss of rape gives birth

NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr. Joseph Famakin

A 17-year-old housemaid, Rhoda, who accused her Lebanese boss, a chef with a prominent Lagos hotel, Hassan Ali Husseini, of raping her while working for him, has put to bed.

The teenager, who is in custody of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, reportedly put to bed in a hospital at the Police College, Ikeja.

It will be recalled that Husseini had denied that the he raped Rhoda, but that the sexual contact they had was consensual.A source at the agency told our correspondent that the baby, a girl, has the features that make it incontrovertible that the child was fathered by Husseini

It was previously reported NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr. Joseph Famakin, as saying that Husseini offered to accept the paternity of the child if it resembled him, saying he would accept it happily as “a gift from God.”

He had said at the time that it was not the place of NAPTIP to prosecute the accused of rape but the duty of the police.

The NAPTIP boss had also hinted at the possibility of a DNA test being conducted.

“We have called both parties and the Lebanese man has agreed to take care of her until she puts to bed. He said if the child is black, he would do a DNA test before he accepts the child but if the baby is white, he would thank God for giving him a miracle,” Famakin had said when he was contacted in April.

When he was contacted about what would now happen to the girl and her child now, he said the case was awaiting the advice of the agency’s legal department on the next couse of action.

Famakin said his officials had visited the girl’s hometown in Kogi State to make some findings about her age and the circumstance under which she came to Lagos.

He said, “It is clear it is not a case of trafficking. But the girl’s brother, who brought her to the Lebanese man is in the best position to clarify what the arrangement was. But he has so far stayed in hiding.

“The Lebanese man too has taken responsibility for the child and the mother even though the mother and child are still in our custody. Until a DNA test is conducted, we would not be able to say with 100 per cent certainty that he is the father.

“The man has so far adhered to his bail condition and has always appeared when we need him. In any case, if our legal advisers say we should transfer the case to the police to for the investigation of the rape allegation, we will do so.”

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