THE Ashaiman Police are investigating the death of a 33-year-old-woman, Hannah Akrong after she had strangled her two-year-old daughter, and chewed parts of her body.
Hannah, according to the police, died soon after she was sent to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for medical examination.
Both her body and her daughter’s have been deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary while efforts are being made through her ex-husband, William Yekple, 33, to contact her relatives.
Eye-witnesses alerted the police when they saw Hannah strangle her daughter to death, and chew parts of the baby’s body.
However, Assistant Superintendent of Police Christopher Quacoe, who briefed the Times on the incident, said when the police got to the scene, they saw Hannah naked and bleeding from the head and nose.
On-the-spot investigations revealed that she hit her daughter’s head repeatedly on a stone and the police decided to ascertain her mental status at the psychiatric hospital.
Meanwhile, the ex-husband, William Yekple, a mason, told the police that Hannah had been suffering from hayfever for some time.
According to him, Hannah and their daughter lived at a village near Sogakofe. Three days ago, while on their way to Asamankese, she stopped at Ashaiman to see a relative, Zenu.
Contrary to populist suspicion that Hannah may have gone mad, medical opinion is that it may have been a depression. But while some suspect a condition known as post-partum depression, during which women delivered of babies behave in a way not very much unlike madness, others say it is not.
Dr. Akwasi Osei, acting Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, told the Times on telephone that the behaviour of the woman could be attributed to depression alright but not to post-partum depression.
He explained that postpartum depression, a condition which occurs after pregnancy, lasts within 40 days and can be extended for up to one year in women.
Dr. Osei who was speaking from outside Accra, could however not explain further because the line was not clear and according to him, he would have to critically assess the history of the woman to be able to diagnose what happened.
