A man who forced his girlfriend to take abortion pills that killed her nine-week-old unborn baby has been jailed at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
Last week, Judge John Alymer sentenced 28-year-old Adeleke Adelani to eleven years, with the final two years suspended, for the intentional destruction of an unborn life and five years with the last year suspended for causing harm to the child’s mother.
In 2020, Adelani locked the woman in a room and forced her to take five misoprostol 200mg tablets. Misoprostol is normally prescribed by abortion clinics to cause the termination of the unborn child. The court heard a recording in which he threatened: “It’s either you eat this or I beat that kid out of you tonight.”
Forgiveness
In a victim impact statement, the woman — who has since married another man — told the court: “When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom.
“He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love.
“My baby was real to me. I had hopes, dreams, and a bond with the life that was growing inside me, and all of it was violently stolen from me in a moment of cruelty that I will never forget.”
She said she had forgiven the defendant, testified to the importance of her faith, and paid tribute to her husband, “who treats me with the love, dignity and kindness I always deserved, but in Christ, who carried me when I could not carry myself”.
However, she explained, “I will always grieve my child. I will always remember what was taken from me. Healing does not erase the loss, it only means I learned how to live with it.”
Coercion
In sentencing Adelani, Judge Alymer said that he had been “fully aware” of the woman’s “expressed desire to keep her baby and completely aware of the potential appalling emotional consequences of terminating the pregnancy without her consent”.
He described the forced abortion as “an extreme act of physical and emotional violence”, and noted: “While she is very forgiving of you in a very Christian way, it is clear the appalling emotional trauma she suffered as a result of your actions.”
Outside the court, Garda Detective Inspector Paul McGee acknowledged the victim’s “unwavering strength and resolve” throughout the investigation and trial, and said that her decision “to share her experience brings attention to the hidden reality of abuse that takes place behind closed doors”.
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