BY KUSEKWA KUSEKWA
High Court Judge, Aisha Bade, has quashed the conviction and life sentence by the Arusha District Court against a resident of the city, one Abdallah Salim, because the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charge of unnatural sex offence involving a 13-year-old girl. She accordingly ordered the man be released.
“The conviction of unnatural offence is quashed and the sentence is hereby set aside. It is further ordered that the appellant be set at liberty,” the judge stated in a judgment delivered recently.
Justice Aisha identified weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, including contradictions in the complainant’s testimony and her identification of Salim at the scene of the alleged offence. The judge noted that the girl had denied being sodomised when questioned and had not explained in sufficient detail how she identified Salim. These shortcomings raised doubts about the prosecution’s case.
Salim had argued in his appeal that the trial court erred in law and fact by relying on visual identification evidence that was not watertight. He had also challenged the credibility of the complainant’s testimony and maintained that the charge had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt. He was alleged to have committed the offence on December 13, 2024, in the Sinoni area of Arusha.
