Pregnant woman whose ear was allegedly chopped off during interrogation sues police, AG for GH¢15m

Judith Yaa Kumah, a pregnant woman whose ear was allegedly partly cut off during a police interrogation at the Tema Community 8 station, has sued the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame.

According to a report by thelawplatform.online, Yaa Kumah also sued Clement Suputor, a police officer of the Community 8 Police Station who supposedly cut off her ear, demanding GH¢15 million in damages.

The report indicated that Yaa Kumah, a budding young musician, dragged three respondents to the General Jurisdiction division of the High Court, accusing them of malicious prosecution, tortious acts of assault and battery, breaches of her Miranda rights, and the chopping off of her right ear.

The victim also accused the police of offering her weed to douse her excruciating pain from the said chopping off of her ear.

She asked the court for “i. An order for general damages of Six Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢6,000,000.00) for the various human rights infringements occasioned the Plaintiff by the 1st and 2nd Defendants; j. An order for general damages of Three Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢3,000,000.00) for the false arrest, assault and battery of the Plaintiff; k. An order for general damages of Three Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢3,000,000.00) for the negligence of the 1st Defendant; l. An order for exemplary and punitive damages of Three Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢3,000,000.00) for the various breaches of the Plaintiff's fundamental human rights, as well as tortious acts against the Plaintiff.”

The report also contained excerpts from the writ filed by the plaintiff, which showed the supposed event that led to her ear being cut off.

Read the excerpts below:

“… The Plaintiff says also that in the course of the aforementioned interrogation, the 2nd Defendant in a show of what may possibly have been under the influence of whatever substance, or mere bravado, and against all sound principles of modern policing, barbarically chopped off a part of the right ear of the Plaintiff with a metal device, and without any provocation.

The Plaintiff further says that during this process, there was a female police officer, who apparently acted as an independent witness, and indeed witnessed the horror movie the 2nd Defendant was producing and playing the lead role in.

The Plaintiff asseverates that as if the gushing of blood from her ear meant nothing at all, the 2nd Defendant obviously unfazed by the implications, did not immediately rush the Plaintiff to the hospital, but rather grudgingly escorted her to seek medical attention after he was prompted by another senior police officer at the police station.

The Plaintiff shall contend that the acts of the 1st Defendant in chopping off the ear of the Plaintiff, is not only a criminal offence, but also is tortious, specifically assault and battery.

The Plaintiff also asseverates that at all material times after the barbaric act, no attempt was made by the 2nd Defendant to preserve the chopped-off part, but rather, the 2nd Defendant offered "weed" to the Plaintiff to soothe her pain, which offer the Plaintiff rejected.

The Plaintiff states that notwithstanding the obvious gravity of the injury to her ear, the 2nd Defendant nonchalantly took her to Community 2 Police Clinic, for medical attention, a facility which is obviously not equipped to attend to such emergencies.

The Plaintiff states also that unfortunately, it was not possible to stitch up the ear, even though the 2nd Defendant carried along the chopped-off bit. To date, the Plaintiff does not know what has become of the piece of her ear which was in the 2nd Defendant's possession.

The Plaintiff further states that at the aforementioned Police Clinic, it was established through a test, that she was pregnant.

The Plaintiff avers that against all tenets of proper human behaviour, the 2nd Defendant took the Plaintiff back to the police station, and continued with the torture of an interrogation."

View the full court document below:



BAI/OGB

Watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below:

You can watch today’s compilation of the Twi news below: