By Yankuba Jallow
One Fatou Ceesay is charged with assault causing actual bodily harm to her co wife, contrary to Section 228 of the Criminal Code of the Gambia. This is said to have happened when she willfully and unlawfully hit the co wife named TenengTrawally, with a stick on July 13th 2017, with the intention of causing actual bodily harm.
When the case was called before Magistrate I.O. Njie of the Brikama Magistrates Court, ASP Abdoulie Jammeh appeared for the Inspector General of Police whilst the accused was not represented by any attorney.
TenengTrawally, the complainant in her testimony as prosecution witness 1, said she has been married to her husband since 1986 and bore him 12 children; that on July 13 2017, she was driving her son to school; that upon her return, she found the accused person sweeping the veranda but to her astonishment, the accused hit her with the broom she was using to sweep with; that she questioned her the reason why she hit her with the broom, she said that was the moment the accused person rushed to get a stick and hit her on the head, causing severe injury on her head; that she reported the matter to the Farato police station from where she was later taken to the Farato Health Center for medical checkup but eventually referred to the Brikama Hospital for further treatment.
The court admitted the shirt, head tie, 2 photographs and the stick that was said to be used by the accused person to hit Teneng, as tendered court exhibits. The court in its ruling held that the articles tendered were relevant to the case and overruled the accused person’s objection on the admissibility of the items as exhibits. The shirt and the head tie had blood stains and the photograph has the image of the complainant, after receiving treatment at the Hospital.
The case attracted many people causing the court house to be full to capacity, leaving some standing just to have a glimpse of proceedings. The matter was adjourned to Wednesday August 23, 2017
