The Ashaiman Circuit Court presided over by Justice Tsatsu Yao Azumah Tuesday sentenced a 27-year-old painter to 15 years’ imprisonment for raping a 33-year-old mentally challenged seamstress in a drinking spot’s urinal at Community 11, a Tema suburb. The painter, Shine Agbeke, pleaded guilty to the charge brought against him and was convicted on his own plea. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour and would serve his term at the Nsawam prisons. Both the convict and his victim, who is the complainant in the case, live at Rama Down at Community 11, Tema. Inspector Mary Assan, the prosecutor in the case, Tuesday told the Circuit Court that on January 30, 2012, at about 8:30p.m, while the mentally challenged seamstress was returning from church service, she met the accused person around a drinking spot in their area. Agbeke, according to prosecution, engaged the seamstress in a conversation, during which he expressed his wish to spend some time with her that night. The seamstress however turned him down and asked him to excuse her as it was getting late. Determined to entice her, the painter was said to have bought his victim some kelewele from a seller nearby, but that did not make the seamstress change her mind as she still demanded to be left alone. Sensing danger, the seamstress started running away from the light-skinned painter and towards her house. As if possessed by some demons, Agbeke, according to Inspector Assan, chased the seamstress and after catching up with her, carried her into a urinal meant for customers of a drinking spot around Rama Down at Community 11, Tema, where he forcefully subjected her to several rounds of sex. Her dress and her panty became dirty as a result of the aggressive nature by which the painter forcefully had sex with her. The seamstress, who is currently receiving treatment at the Pantang Psychiatric Hospital near Adenta, reported the incident to the Community 11 branch of the Domestic Violence and Victim and Support Unit (DOVVSU), where a medical form was issued to her to seek medical examination at a government hospital. The medical report, when sent to the police station, compelled DOVVSU officials to arrest the painter who initially denied raping the mentally challenged seamstress. Agbeke, realizing that he might be in trouble later if he did not tell the truth, pleaded with the police to deal with him leniently and confessed that he had indeed committed the offence. After investigation, he was charged with the offence and subsequently made to appear before the court, where he was finally sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to the charge of raping a mentally challenged seamstress.