An ex-convict, Mercy Orija, has reportedly raped a 12-year-old pupil, Janet Fakeye, to death in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The suspect reportedly went into hiding shortly after he committed the offense at Fehintoluwa Community Development Association in Idiya, Abeokuta-North Local Government Area of the state.

Our correspondent gathered that Orija, who was convicted of assaulting a Point-of-Sale operator in the community last year, allegedly raped the minor shortly after he was released from prison.

PUNCH Metro learned that the deceased was a Junior Secondary School pupil at the Army Day Secondary School, Alamala, Abeokuta.

Janet was reportedly dragged into a house by the suspect while she was going back home from where she went to buy soap to wash her school uniform on Wednesday.

The suspect was said to have used his family house in the same community to commit the crime.

Orija allegedly dumped her body in another building beside his family house and fled the scene.

When our correspondent visited the community on Sunday, it was observed that the suspect’s family house had been destroyed.

Upon inquiry, it was learned that community youths stormed the house and set it ablaze.

The deceased’s father Sanjo, demanded justice for his daughter.

He said, “When Janet arrived from school on Wednesday, she was writing her homework and after she was done, she told me that she wanted to buy detergent in our neighbor’s house to wash her socks.

“I gave her money to buy the detergent. I was sitting outside and after a while, I didn’t see her return from the place she went to buy the detergent. The place where she went to buy the detergent is not far from the house.

“So, I went to check on her. I was told she had been attended to and had left the place; I became agitated.

“I then thought that maybe she went to collect a book from her friend for her homework. I went to the friend’s place and asked for my daughter; she said she had not seen her.

“I later went to report at a police station around 8pm after we had searched and could not find her . As we were heading towards the police station, I received a call from the community that they had found the dead body of my daughter.”

He said his daughter was raped to death by the suspect after he tied her hands and legs and covered her mouth.

According to him, the soap and the bloodstains were seen in the suspect’s house while he ran away through the back door.

The deceased’s mother, Tayo, said some residents saw the suspect leaving the house.

She said people heard the barking of a dog while he dumped her daughter’s body before he escaped.

“We want the government to help us arrest him. The youth burnt the house because of the incident. The owner of the house, who was the father of the suspect, died just a month ago,” she added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said his men had begun searching for the suspect.

He said, “It is true that we are looking for him. The suspect is an ex-convict who was just released from prison. He would soon be arrested and made to face justice.”