Police brutalize inmate to death

The Tackie family of Bortianor is still at sea as to the cause of the death of the late Nii Ofoli Tackie a.k.a. 'Daade', who died mysteriously in Police custody and have petitioned the Interior Minister, Cletus Avoka, to institute a probe into the case.

What is baffling the bereaved family is that when Daade was taken into Police custody as a healthy looking muscular youngman, "the family was surprised to see marks of beatings on the body of the deceased and rubber in his manhood meaning he could not urinate", a family member revealed to The New Crusading Guide.

The family is also appealing to the Interior Minister to compel a Criminal Investigative Department (CID) operative, one Inspector Obeng to produce the hospital folder of the deceased which has been in the possession of the Police since October 2009, so that activities at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital could release an autopsy report conducted on Daade.

Checks by The New Crusading Guide shows that the continuous withholding of the folder by the Police has caused the bereaved family spend close to GH¢1500 on mortuary fees.

According to Doctor Edusei who conducted the autopsy, until the folder of Daade was produced by the Police, he would not release the report. The petition which was presented last Monday reads in part,"..some of the inmates of the deceased told us (family) that the deceased complained to them (inmates) that he was beaten and has resulted in his inability to urinate."

According to family sources, Daade, on 9th October, 2009, was arrested by the regional CID on the charge of aiding his father to sell a parcel of land to a complainant who demanded his money back. He was then detained at the Central Police Station.

When the family went to the cells to visit the deceased about three days later, they were told he had been sent to the Police Hospital for medical treatment. Unfortunately, he passed away two days later.

When the corpse was taken to Korle-Bu hospital for autopsy, the doctor, upon seeing the marks on the back of the dead person, asked Inspector Obeng what might have caused the marks to which he answered, "I don't know if he was beaten by the inmates in the cells".

Dr Adusei, clearly not convinced by the answer given by Inspector Obeng requested that the folder of the deceased be brought from the Police Hospital to enable him crosscheck certain facts.

Almost three months after the doctor made the request, Inspector Obeng has failed to produce the folder for the release of the body for burial.