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A 22-YEAR Togolese, Eric Atidza has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Ashaiman Circuit Court for defiling a four-year-old girl in his room at the Tema Heavy Industrial area. The Togolese, who is a labourer, lived in the same vicinity with his victim. The victim lived with her mother and grandparents near the Licensing Office in the Heavy Industrial area. The labourer, who was said to be a quiet person and always kept to himself, was reportedly friends with the parents of the little girl. According to prosecution, Atidza on March 1, 2012 at about 2:45pm called his victim to his room and asked her to sweep the room for him. The victim obediently got a broom from the room and swept. Atidza, who had earlier stepped out of the room reportedly returned after some minutes and went straight to the little girl, held her hands and pulled her towards his bed where he forcibly removed her clothes and panties and defiled her. The little girl, the prosecution noted, narrated to the police how Atidza covered her mouth with his hands to prevent her from crying and shouting. A younger sister of the victim, who saw her enter the labourer�s room after a while, went to look for her. The sister, according to prosecution, entered the room without knocking and saw Atidza on top of her sister. She then hurriedly run out of the room to inform their grandfather, Boss Amanor, who was home at the time of the incident. The grandfather, on hearing about the incident, quickly dashed to the room of the Togolese and on reaching there he saw Atidza dressing up. The grandfather then rushed to the Community 1 police station where he lodged a complaint against the Togolese for defiling his granddaughter. A medical form which was earlier given to him to send the victim to the hospital for examination and treatment was later returned to the station. The form, endorsed by a medical doctor, confirmed that the incident compelling the police to arrest him and charge him for defilement. After investigations, Atidza was arraigned before the Ashaiman Circuit Court where he was subsequently convicted on evidence and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment to be served at the Nsawam Prisons.