The defilement trial of Muhammed Sillah, who is accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl, continued on Monday at the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court before Her Worship I. Sallah Mbye.
Proceedings opened with the testimony of the second prosecution witness (PW2) and a contested application by the prosecution to admit the accused’s cautionary and voluntary statements into evidence.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Manga, representing the state, called Sergeant Ba-Foday Camara of the Kanifing Police Station, regimental number 4144. Sgt. Camara testified that he was on duty in May 2025 when a formal complaint was lodged against the accused, Muhammed Sillah.
In his evidence-in-chief, Sgt. Camara explained the procedure followed in obtaining the statements from the accused. He told the court that after the complaint was received and the parties’ narration heard, he was instructed by his superior officer to record a cautionary statement from Sillah.
“I was at the police station on duty when the complaint was lodged. After we heard their narration, I was instructed by my superior to obtain a cautionary statement,” Sgt. Camara testified.
He stated that the statement was taken at the station’s charge office, with the accused positioned behind the counter, and in the presence of an independent witness. According to the witness, the statements were read back to the accused, who thumb-printed them, while Sgt. Camara and the independent witness signed.
When the prosecution sought to tender both the cautionary and voluntary statements, the accused, who is representing himself, objected to their admissibility.
Upon the reading of the voluntary statement, which reportedly contained the assertion that “the first sexual encounter was forced, while the second and third were voluntary and occurred at my house,” the accused maintained his objection.
In addressing the court, Muhammed Sillah did not deny that the statements contained incriminating content but claimed the words were not his own. He alleged that he adopted the narrative to protect the complainant’s reputation from her mother.
“These are the words of the girl,” the accused told the court. “I said it because I was just backing her up, so that the problem would be easy on her and for her mother not to know that she had an encounter with a man.”
After considering the objection, Her Worship I. Sallah Mbye ruled that the statements satisfied the legal requirements for admissibility. Relying on Section 3 of the Evidence Act, which addresses the relevance of evidence, the court admitted both the cautionary and voluntary statements into evidence. They were marked as Exhibit A1 and Exhibit A2, respectively.
Following the ruling, the prosecution concluded its examination of Sgt. Camara, who was subsequently discharged. The matter was adjourned to Monday, 19 September 2026, for the testimony of the third prosecution witness (PW3).
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