Rape culture: false accusation is a crime

Sensitive content. Read without sentiment.

First of all, I want to acknowledge how sad it is that rape has become a culture. I have seen rape culture titles everywhere, we know it’s one thing that’s happening, but today let’s talk about the flip side. False accusation.

I have heard and seen a lot on this issue and it’s sad how many have allowed gender war becloud their judgement.

By now, you must have seen #justiceforizu or maybe not. It’s just a tip of the iceberg which is this topic. That being said this would mostly be on law and facts with reference where necessary. Before that, I also want to acknowledge how pitiful it is that most times a life has to be lost before certain issues are taken seriously.

So let’s talk law. The law of many countries recognise the possibility of false accusations because we are dealing with humans. However as we would see later, there is need for the law to be specific in some areas especially in light of our present day realities.

Such actions include ; a vindictive former partner making false accusations to the police of domestic violence, false stalking/harassment claims, making a false statement about who was the perpetrator of an assault in order to provide a cover story for the real perpetrator or making assault allegations in order to avoid embarrassment, gain attention or get back at a previous partner.

Section 314 of the New South Wales Crimes Act 1900 makes it an offence punishable by 7 years imprisionment to make an accusation against a person intending the person to be subject to a criminal investigation knowing the person to be innocent of the offence .

You notice most of the instances are sexual harassment related because that’s a high player. It gets interesting under Nigerian law but with some vulnerable loopholes. First of all, it’s under conspiracy.

Section 125 of the Criminal Code Act 2004 provides that any person who conspires with another to charge any person or cause any person to be charged with any offence whether alleged to have been committed in Nigeria or elsewhere knowing that such person is innocent of the alleged offence or not believing him to be guilty of the alleged offence is guilty of a felony.

If the offence is such that a person who is convicted of it is liable to be sentenced to death or life imprisionment (eg rape, murder) the offender is liable to imprisonment for life and if the such convicted person is liable to be sentenced to imprisonment below life, the offender is liable to imprisonment for life.

So conspiracy to falsely accuse is a crime in Nigeria, but you can see the loopholes, because sometimes the false accusation is a n independent act, but regardless we must tread with caution.

In izu’s case, its more complicated, because in the first place, nanachianese had no right to publish the names of people who the court has not declared so, to be offenders seeing is wasn’t the purported victim. That is slander.

Back to common humanity, it is utterly despicable to falsely accuse anyone at all, much less for something as grave as rape or sexual assault as we have many speculations now. Let me emphasize that this is inspired but not centered on Izu’s case, because it was clarified that the harassment wasn’t physical and there is nothing concrete to establish the truth or falsity of the claim. However, he had the right to know specifically what he was being accused of and who his accuser was.

Sincerely, we have made social media a court with a zillion judges, if there is a claim, it should be addressed by the appropriate institution. Many have been so defensive on this issue, that’s why I said read without sentiments.

The trauma that comes with been falsely accused on a public space is as much as being a victim especially for grievious crimes like sexual assault rape or murder. What’s worse is how people bring gender war into glaring vices like this.

My take. Your sense of judgement should not be clouded by popular opinion. Before you take sides, know the facts. Before you pronounce judgement on social media, please be called to the bench first. Think about how your actions will affect the other person. There is nothing tangible to assert that the accusation was the sole cause of Izu’s suicide, but anyone who cares to be reasonable would see it was a player. Do not publish accusations if you are not the victim and if you are the victim, it’s best to take it to the appropriate institution, social media has a way of twisting things. Let go of gender wars, assert your rights and do better. Peace✌️

As always, the conversation continues in the comment section, share your thoughts on this issues. Do you agree that false accusation should be a part of the conversation? Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe by signing up. Ciao?