63 ‘suspected killers’ arrested over lynching of alleged witch

The Bolgatanga Police Command has arrested some 63 persons suspected to be the killers of an alleged witch at Pelungu in the Upper East Region.

The 67-year-old widow, Yenboka Kenna, was lynched at the Pelungu market on Monday, May 29, 2017, after she was accused of being a witch.

The Police have in a swoop on Saturday arrested 63 suspected persons for investigations.

The Bolgatanga Police Commander, Supt. Samuel Ponobim said the suspects will go through an identification parade this morning to screen them and get the real persons behind this dastardly act.

“So far we have arrested 63 persons including one female. They are being held for investigations and we’re going to screen them, but for now we are taking their statements. We hope by tomorrow we are going to finish with this. We conducted this swoop because we were told the lynching was done by people living around-those houses around. That is why we conducted this swoop to get to the bottom of the matter. We are hoping that the witness- the adults, they were there, we were not there, so it behoves on them if they could identify the people behind the act.”

Family of lynched ‘witch’ blames Pelungu chief

The family of the woman who was lynched has partly blamed the Chief of Pelungu, where the woman was killed for the incident.

According to an elder of the family, Tibil Nyaabil, this murder would have been prevented if the chief of Pelungu, Naab Sierig Sore Sobil (IV) had accommodated her in his palace until the mob had dispersed.

The murder of the alleged witch happened on the same day the military officer, Major Maxwell Adam Mahama who was mistaken for an armed robber was also lynched by locals of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central region.