MAKURDI — In a bid to seek cure for his HIV status, a 36-year-old man, Cletus Agwu has been allegedly misled by a witch doctor in Makurdi to rape a three-year-old girl (names withheld) who has also been infected with the virus.

The bizarre incident which took place, weekend, at 8 Yogbo Street in the North Bank area of Makurdi, only came to the fore when the cry of agony of the three-year-old victim attracted inquisitive neighbours who saw her hold firmly to her vagina as she dripped blood.

Upon intense prompting, she informed neighbours of what the alleged rapist did to her and the threat that she must not disclose what transpired or she would be killed.

At this juncture residents of Yogbo Street and other concerned passersby went after the suspected rapist, but the quick intervention of the police saved him from being lynched by the angry mob.

Vanguard gathered that upon interrogation by the Police, Cletus who claimed he lived in the same compound with the victim’s parents, told the Police that he was HIV positive but acted on the advise of a witch doctor where he was seeking cure for his ailment, who urged him to have sex with a girl of not more than three years in order to get permanent cure for his disease.

He further confessed that it was his desperation for cure and his ‘doctor’s’ insistence that led him into committing the dastardly act with the little daughter of his co-tenant.

Meanwhile, medical test carried out on the raped girl at the North Bank General Hospital in Makurdi has also confirmed that the girl has been infected with HIV.

The Benue State Commissioner of Police Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed, who paraded the suspect before newsmen, confirmed the development.