Court Defilement Driver's mate gets 15 years for defilement

A 20-year-old driver's mate, who defiled a girl, aged 13, and infected her with a venereal disease, has been jailed 15 years in hard labor by the Asamankese circuit court.

Daniel Madji, who pleaded guilty, told the court that the girl had been his girlfriend for two years. The girl when asked if that was true replied in the affirmative. The judge, Mr. S. S. Appiah asked, "Does it mean you have been defiling the girl for two years?" Mr. Appiah said: "Consent from a minor obtained by fraud or deceit is invalid," adding, "at any rate I do not believe that the two have been lovers for two years because the medical report said she had been raped and suffered severe abdominal pains." The Judge said he took the matter serious since the medical report said she had a venereal disease and there was profuse offensive smelling discharge from her genitals. He said there was the need to protect minors from the wiles of evil-minded men and that Madji should go to prison for a long period to protect other minors from being infected with sexually transmitted diseases through defilement.

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Mariama Doneya said on April 7 the girl was asked to go and sell iced-kenkey at the lorry station and the accused, who is a driver's mate, told her that he wanted to buy some. He lured her into his room and forcibly had sex with her resulting in her being hospitalized for abdominal pains.