Haddad Rabih, the Lebanese businessman accused of raping his 19-year-old house help, has been acquitted and discharged by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court.
Rabih, 39, was acquitted after a seven-member jury returned a not-guilty verdict on Friday, January 31, 2020.
The prosecution had accused Rabih of forcibly having sex with his house help on two occasions and also assaulting her whenever she refused his sexual advances.
According to the prosecution, Rabih started forcibly having sex with the house help immediately she was employed in November 2017.
‘Inconsistent testimony’
However, in his legal opinion to advise the jury in its deliberations, the presiding judge, Justice George Buadi, held that there were inconsistencies in the testimony given by the house help during the trial.
In addition, he held that the eight prosecution witnesses could not corroborate the testimony of the house help.
According to the presiding judge, the court could not rely solely on the testimony of the house help to convict Rabih as that was against the law.
Reasonable doubt
In criminal trials, the prosecution must prove its case beyond doubt, but in the instant case, the court held that the prosecution failed to do that.
Apart from the inconsistent testimony by the house help and the prosecution witnesses not being able to corroborate her testimony, the court also held that the 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
Another factor which led to Rabih’s acquittal was the fact that he 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.
According to the court, call charts from Rabih’s mobile network provider and other pieces of evidence proved his alibi.
“The accused’s defence of alibi is upheld,” Justice Buadi held.
Release passport
As a result of his acquittal, the court ordered that Rabih’s passport, which was seized as part of his bail condition, should be released to him immediately and unconditionally
Background
Rabih was arrested in December 2017 after the accusation of rape surfaced. The case attracted media interest following information that there was an attempted cover up by some people.
With the media throwing spotlight on the case, Rabih was arrested and processed for court.
His attempt to get bail generated interest when at one point his wife broke down in tears following the High Court’s decision to adjourn his bail application to another date.
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Daily Graphic
