Indian jailed seven years for defilement

An Accra Circuit Tribunal yesterday sentenced Darshan Bipin Shas, an Indian marketing consultant, to seven years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling two girls.

The tribunal, chaired by Mr Imoru Ziblim, however, ordered that Shas, who had been diagnosed HIV positive, should serve his jail term in his country. It noted that the medical expenses of the convict will be a burden on the tax payer if he is kept in Ghana and recommended his immediate deportation.

Shas was accused of having defiled two girls, aged 14, and paid them ?150,000 each night for two days.

The tribunal, therefore, asked Shas to compensate the victims with ?5 million each to cater for their medical expenses.

Meanwhile, two accomplices, Kwabena Amesigah and Jonathan Sowu, who were also charged with abetment of crime, have been discharged.

At Wednesday's sitting, defence counsel told the tribunal that Shas had regretted his action and prayed the court to deport his client to India to serve his jail term because of his ailment.

The counsel further cited a publication in the Ghanaian Times which said a Tema tribunal had granted a 32-year-old armed robber bail because the Prisons Service said they had no facilities to care for people with HIV/AIDS. "It is likely that Shas may infect other inmates with the disease if he were kept in the Ghanaian prison," defence counsel said.

The tribunal heard that on March 14, complainants, who were relatives of the victims, had a tip-off that the girls had visited the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra where the two accomplices had lured them so that they could have sex with Shas for a fee.

Shas then sent them to Green Leaf Hotel at Osu where he was lodging and had sex with them on two different occasions and paid them ?150,000 each for a day. When Amesigah and Sowu were arrested, they led the police to Shas' shop and during interrogation, Shas admitted the offence and told the police that he did not use any protective measure when he had sex with the two girls.

Accused was subsequently sent to the Police Hospital for medical examination where he was diagnosed HIV positive.