Rapist pastor flees

The family of a 17-year-old Junior High School form two student has appealed to the general public to help apprehend a pastor who allegedly raped her.

Apostle Benjamin K. Torkornu, Senior Pastor of Prophetic Ministry International at Kpone-Bawaleshie in the Greater Accra Region absconded after the incident.

The girl told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that, a fortnight ago, Apostle Torkornu forcefully had sexual intercourse with her in his room on the church premises.

Narrating her ordeal, she said from December, 2017, her guardian, who is a sister to her grandfather, instructed her to wash the pastor’s clothes for him whenever the need arose. And she did the chore religiously.

She stated that about a month ago, he proposed love to her but she declined, after which the apostle poured anointing oil into a horn and emptied it on her head amid threats and curses of death and bad marriage in future if she disclosed their discussion to anybody.

According to her, two weeks after that incident, she went to the church premises on a Saturday at about 0600 hours to carry out her washing duty, but found the place locked.

The pastor, who lived on the premises alone, opened the door and sent her to put off the outside light; she obliged and entered the church, where the light switch was, to carry out the instruction.

The victim added that when she finished, she realized that he had locked the exit and was left with no option than to pass through his room to get out.

According to her, the apostle pounced on her, carried her onto his bed and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her after which he repeated his death threats.

She indicated that when she reached home, she narrated her ordeal to her guardian but she just brushed it off, adding that she repeated her report to her the following Monday when she started having stomach pains.

The victim disclosed that on Thursday, her uncle visited them and when she narrated the incident to him, he lodged a complaint at the Dodowa Police Station, where a medical form was issued to her.

A copy of a police general medical form report from the Dodowa General Hospital, made available to the GNA indicated that upon examination, it was found out that “her vulva and vagina were stained with a whitish offensive discharge and a partly healed torn hymen due to the alleged rape”.

Checks at the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) at the Dodowa Police Station confirmed the report of the alleged rape and the absconded pastor.