The Ministry of Justice has launched an investigation into allegations of rape and sexual assault against a senior government official, Melville Robertson Roberts.

Mr Roberts is the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At least five women have accused Mr Roberts of rape and sexual assaults. The allegation emerged on Saturday after a woman with the social media handle Chaat Joyce posted the accusation on her Facebook page. This prompted other alleged victims to come forward with their accusations against Mr Roberts.

The hashtags #IamToufah and #SurvivingMelville were trending on social media over the weekend as Gambian women and girls defy strong cultural and religious taboos to share their traumatic experiences of rape and sexual assault.

This #metoo movement started in the wake of Fatou Jallow, a former beauty queen, who went public with her accusations of rape and sexual assault against former president Yahya Jammeh.

The ministry of Justice in a statement on Monday said:

“A number of women have recently made serious allegations of sexual assault including rape committed against them by Mr Melville Robertson Roberts, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Gambia.

“The Attorney General takes seriously these allegations and hereby assures the complainants and the general public that the allegations will be treated with the seriousness they deserve and will be referred to The Gambia Police Force for immediate and urgent criminal investigations.

“The complainants are hereby requested to contact The Gambia Police Force or the Ministry of Justice on (+220)2223616/7674795 or [email protected]/[email protected], and extend full cooperation to the police in the conduct of these investigations.”

Meanwhile Melville Robertson Roberts has strongly denied all the accusations levelled against him. Gambiana could not reach Mr Roberts for comment.