Artisan jailed eight years for defilement

Kumasi, Dec. 24, GNA - A circuit court in Kumasi has sentenced a 20-year-old artisan to eight years imprisonment in hard labour for defiling a 15-year-old girl. Kofi Karim pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted on his own plea. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Comfort Baffour-Kyei told the court presided over by Madam Wilhelmina Hammond that the convict lived at Dichemso a suburb of Kumasi where the victim sold iced water in then area.

She said on December 9, at about 17:30 hours, the victim had gone out to sell her iced water at a fitting shop at Krofrom in Kumasi where the accused called her under the pretext of buying some of the iced water.

Instead of buying the water, accused collected the victims GH=A21 (=A210,000) being proceeds from the sale of the iced water. The accused then pulled the victim to a nearby bush and at knifepoint he tied the victim's hands to her back with a rope and threatened to stab her if she attempted to raise the alarm. He then defiled the girl on the bare ground two times and kept her till 21:00 hours before releasing her to go home. Upon reaching home the victim reported her ordeal to her mother and a formal complaint was lodged at the Domestic Violence and Victims' Supporting Unit (DOVVSU) in Kumasi. The accused was arrested and in his caution statement he admitted the offence.