We’re Not Guilty - Burns couple

THE COUPLE who allegedly made their 11-year-old granddaughter sit in a bowl of hot water as punishment for constantly bedwetting her bed pleaded not guilty to charges preferred against them.

The accused persons, Christiana Torkornu, a 50-year-old trader and James Agbemavor, 65, an electrician, denied two counts of conspiracy to commit the crime of causing harm and causing harm when they appeared before an Accra Circuit court presided over by Ebenezer Osei-Darko.

The two were arrested on January 8, 2012 by the Nungua Police unit of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) after the police received information about the conduct of the couple.

The victim reportedly sustained severe burns on her buttocks and abdomen and has since been hospitalised.

Counsel for the accused persons, David Koko, prayed the court to grant them bail as the offences were bailable ones adding they would tell their side of the story at the right time as they were not as black as being portrayed.

The prosecutor however objected to the request on grounds that investigations were still ongoing. The court after listening to them refused them bail and remanded them to re-appear on February 7.

Presenting the facts, DSP Acquah narrated that on January 8, 2013 at exactly 8:10am, the Nungua Police Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) office received a call from an informant that Christiana had forced her granddaughter to sit on boiled water in a plastic bowl making her to sustain severe burns on both buttocks.

The bedridden child, the caller revealed, had been kept secretly in the accused’s room as a way of concealing the crime.

Following the information, the police swiftly moved with the said informant to the home of the accused persons where they were arrested and notified of the crime they had committed.

DSP Acquah disclosed that James confirmed to the police upon instant interrogation that they made their granddaughter sit on boiled water in a plastic bowl on January 3, 2012 and as a result she had sustained severe burns.

James, according to the prosecutor, added that their action was based on their granddaughter’s constant bedwetting.

The police reportedly compelled them to bring the victim out.

The police, according to the prosecutor, noticed that the victim could neither walk nor sit and when the body was examined by the police, they found out that she had sustained severe burns on her buttocks and abdomen.

The two were arrested subsequently and the victim rescued to the Nungua Police DOVVSU office.

The victim was immediately taken to police hospital where she was admitted at the children’s ward.

According to DSP Sarah Acquah, a medical report had revealed that the victim was currently fifty percent healed.