Stepfather discharged over defilement

Isaac Tetteh, a mason who was hauled to court for allegedly defiling his 11-year-old stepdaughter, has been discharged by an Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday.

He was released following the submission of “further statements” obtained by the Police from the complainant, indicating that Tetteh was innocent.

The complainant (the mother) stated that the victim had confessed to her that the allegation made against the accused person was untrue, and they had submitted their statements to the Police.

Prosecuting, Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbire said the statements had also been put on the Court’s records.

When the matter was called today, the 11-year-old victim and her mother were also not in Court.

On September 9, this year, the Court ordered the Prosecution to produce the 11-year-old girl and her mother who had jointly accused Tetteh of defilement.

The victim, who is the stepdaughter of the defendant, alleged that he (accused) had defiled her on three occasions at Nungua.

He was, therefore, put before the Court on September 5.

At that sitting, the Court presided over by Mrs Ruby Naa Akwerley Quaison did not take the plea of Tetteh following the prosecution’s submission that they were conducting further investigations into the matter.

The Court, therefore, remanded Tetteh into lawful custody.

The complainant, who resided at Ashaiman, had told the Court that Tetteh had in August defiled the girl when she went to search for her mother, whom she thought was living at Nungua with Tetteh.

But her mother had packed out of the house at the time because of a misunderstanding with Tetteh.

The girl, who was originally living with her biological father, had left home and was living with a Good Samaritan after she had been sent to the Police Station for loitering.