The grandparents who allegedly compelled their 11-year-old granddaughter to sit in a basin of hot water as punishment for bedwetting have been remanded in police custody by the Accra Circuit Court.
Christina Torkonu, 50, a fish monger, and James Agbamavo, 65, an electrician, were arrested on January 8, 2012 by the Kpeshie office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.
After the facts of the case had been presented by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mrs Sara Ekua Acquah, the pleas of the accused were not taken and the court, presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, ordered them to reappear on January 24, 2012.
The adjournment is to give the police more time to continue their investigations. A visibly angry Mr Darko lashed out at Agbamavo for acting ‘foolishly’, saying as a man, he could have restrained his wife from carrying out that inhuman act.
“Pray that nothing happens to her,” he said.
Throughout proceedings, Torkonu kept her closed eyes fixated on the ceiling of the courtroom as if she was praying.
With his eyes sternly fixed on Torkonu, the judge said, “With what you have done, if you are even praying, God will not listen.”
On January 3, 2012, the two grandparents were arrested by the Kpeshie Police for allegedly compelling their 11-year-old granddaughter who is a bedwetter to sit in a basin of hot water, an action which caused serious burns to her buttocks.
The two were arrested by the police following a tip-off by an informant.
Presenting the facts of the case, ASP Acquah said the informant reported the incident on January 8, 2013 after the grandparents had kept the girl, a class three pupil of Dai Salam Primary at Teshie, in the room in an attempt to conceal the crime.
The police responded swiftly to the information and with the help of the informant managed to locate the house, where the two suspects were arrested.
During interrogation, Ms Torkonu confirmed to the police that they had, indeed, made their granddaughter to sit in the hot water.
She also confirmed that the girl sustained severe wounds and that she was in the room. When Ms Torkonu brought out the victim, the police noticed that the victim could not walk or sit.
Mrs Acquah said, indeed, a photograph showed the victim lying on her stomach with blistered buttocks covered in Gentian violet.
She said the injury was so bad that the victim struggled to attend the call of nature. She said the suspects were immediately arrested and the victim sent to the Police Hospital, where she is receiving medical attention.
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