Teenage mother held over death of three-week old baby

Aflao, Oct. 26, GNA - A 16-year-old teenage mother is being detained by the Denu Police for allegedly murdering her three-week old baby boy by giving him an overdose of paracetamol and amoxycillin. Mary Agozi, a former form two pupil of the Ho Fiave Local Authority Junior Secondary School who dropped out of school last year after becoming pregnant, buried the baby's body wrapped in a piece of cloth in an uncovered shallow grave at the outskirts of their residence at Denu. Led by her two unsuspecting aunts, she reported the loss of her baby to the police, claiming she left him in the room while she went out to buy food.

Her plans to mislead the police failed after some loitering school children found the body in the grave, which she apparently had no time to cover after noticing that some people were walking toward her. Sources close to the police told the GNA that Mary became pregnant following an affair with a young man now schooling in Accra who rejected responsibility.

The sources said coupled with the death of her grandmother with whom she was residing at Matse near Ho in April, this year, Mary left to stay with her aunt at Denu.

On October 1, this year she gave birth to a baby boy and at about 0945 hours on Monday, October 24, she reported to loss of the baby leading to her arrest.

Mary on her arrest stated that she gave the drugs to the baby with no intention to kill her, explaining that the attempt to cover-up the death was to avoid refreshing the memory of the police on her father's death in prison over an Indian hemp case. Mary will soon be put before court on charges of provisional murder.