Lebanese accused of raping 19-yr-old housemaid acquitted after jury deliberation

Haddad Rabih was acquitted and discharged by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court by the seven-member jury on Friday January 31, 2020.

Justice George Buadi, in his legal opinion to help the jury in their deliberations, observed that there were inconsistencies in the testimony given by the house help during the trial.

 He said the eight prosecution witnesses could not corroborate the testimony of the house help and that the court could not rely solely on the testimony of the house help to convict Rabih as that was against the law.

Justice Buadi also noted that a medical expert, who was one of the witnesses, could not link an alleged semen found on the house help to Rabih.

“The prosecution’s case presented in court was completely opposite what it claimed happened,” Justice Buadi held, the Daily Graphic newspaper quoted him.

The court also found that Rabih was able to prove an alibi that he was not at the place the alleged rape happened on the day he was alleged to have raped the house help.

“The accused’s defence of alibi is upheld,” Justice Buadi held.

It will be recalled that in 2017, police in East Legon arrested Rabih for allegedly raping his 19-year-old house help at Airport Hills residential area in Accra.

He was arrested around 11:45 pm on Sunday after he was said to have forcibly had sex with the victim around 5 pm on Saturday in the absence of his wife and other occupants of his household.

The victim said ever since she started work in November, she has been harassed by him for sex anytime his wife was not at home.