Popular Congolese singer Koffi Olomide has been sentenced to two years in prison for raping a 15-year-old and former band member.
The singer whose is regarded as the king of rumba and soukous which were very popular in the 90s and 2000s across Africa and French speaking countries around the world, was found guilty of the statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15.
According to BBC Africa, Koffi Olomide was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence by a court in France in absentia, as he failed to turn up.
The ruling means the Congolese star only faces arrest if he commits further offences. The report said.
Koffi Olomide, 62, was ordered to pay 5,000 euros ($5,700; £4,300) in damages to the former dancer.
The court in Nanterre, outside Paris, also ordered him to pay a fine of the same amount for helping three women enter France illegally.
Olomidé’s lawyer has hailed the ruling as a victory, telling journalists it would result in the withdrawal of the star’s international arrest warrant.
Olomidé was first charged in 2012 with aggravated rape but the charges were reduced.
Four dancers who used to work for the musician told the court that he sexually assaulted them multiple times between 2002 and 2006. They said the assaults happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo and France. BBC report.