Farmer charged with incest

A 40-year-old farmer has been remanded in prison custody by an Accra Circuit Tribunal for impregnating his 17 year-old daughter.

John Gakpada who pleaded not guilty to incest will re-appear on September 25. Police Inspector Emmanuel Boison told the tribunal presided over by Mr Imoru Ziblim that during the Easter holidays last year, the stepmother of the victim travelled for an Easter Convention and left the accused person and the victim in their house at Ve in the Volta Region.

The prosecutor said the accused person took advantage of his wife's absence and had sex with the victim. She fell sick later on and when she was sent to the hospital, the doctor said she was six months pregnant. Inspector Boison said the girl informed her father about it but he warned her not to tell anyone. She however reported to the Police at Ve who arrested the accused and transferred the case to the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Police Service in Accra for further investigations.