Family of 15-year-old Anood Jibril Alslani, a rape victim who is a Yemen national but lives in Ghana, are calling on the crime unit of the Ghana Police Service to speed up processes to arrest the perpetrator of the crime and to ensure justice prevails.
Anood Alslani was allegedly raped at the age of 14 by her ‘grandfather’, aged 60, whom she lived with in Ghana at the time of the incident.
The family claim almost a year since the incident occurred they have been on the heels of the Police to try to get them to take some actions but all have proved futile.
Lawyer of the victim, Justice Abdulai, speaking to the press Tuesday December 11, 2018, said refusal on the part of the police to pursue the case and that with urgency amounts to corruption.
“We find ourselves in a situation where corruption has been so pervasive that a young lady who has been defiled by an almost 60-year-old man is presently in hospital trying to find her feet back to life.’’
He stated that the victim has been traumatized and is consistently trying to commit suicide everyday since the incident per medical reports but sadly, the police is doing virtually nothing about it.
According to the lawyer for the victim, they have been pursuing the appropriate authorities, including the Ghana Police service, seeking justice since December 2017 but success seems elusive.
“From December 2017, we have been pursuing justice for Anood Jibril Alsalmi and to date, justice seems to be quite elusive. No single administration of the police or any of our prosecutorial agencies have taken any step to ensure that this matter is prosecuted. Indeed together with the family, we have spearheaded the search for evidence and we have provided all the evidence that is needed or required to ensure a successful prosecution because believe you me if you go to the police they will tell you that until you have prima facia case they are not prosecuting", he stated.
The lawyer revealed that together with the family, they have spear-headed the search for evidence and provided all the evidence they required to ensure a successful prosecution but they are still not getting justice for the victim.
He added that he has personally been to the police station more than 100 times this year alone but his efforts have still not yielded result.
He however is obstinate about pursuing the case till justice is served.
‘’It may sound gloomy but it’s real and we are not making any of these up. Everything we said here is not only reported to the police administration but we keep on pursuing them to ensure that our security is safeguarded and justice is ultimately delivered for our dear sister.’’
Background
Giving a blow-by-blow account of all that has transpired since December last year when the lady was defiled, lawyer for the family said the alleged assaulter was a long distant relative who was considered a 'grandfather' to the girl and used to often pick her up to school and back home when she closes.
It was on the back of this that he picked her up in the guise of taking her to school and defiled her at a yet-to-be-known location.
The matter according to the lawyer was reported to the Kwabenya Police Station who then forwarded to the Madina Police Station for lack of capacity to deal with the matter.
The family claim that the Madina Police Station after arresting the suspect made him go on bail with his wife as the only surety making them believe there were some underhand dealings prior to his release.
"...by virtue of that, this grandfather meeting Jibril Aslami Anood, invited her to drop her at school. Willingly she accepted the invitation of the grandfather and on their way to school she ended up somewhere else that she cannot disclose till date. Having reached the destination she was drugged and assaulted by her grandfather after which she was made to do come unspeakable things while unconcious. The chilling story of this whole drama is that she managed to in severe pain and the most agony return home" Justice Abdulai told the press.
According to the family they fear the inaction of the police may result in them losing their lives as the suspected sexual abuser has on several occasions threatened their lives.
Justice Abdulai suggests that the so-called grandfather has sent them videos and threats and on one occasion physically assaulted the family at Airport, a case that has since failed to see the light of day in court.
The family alleges that the suspect has managed to smuggle into the country ammunition that they claim has been confirmed to be the preserve of the military in the country by the CID of the Ghana Police Service.
They maintain that this has implications for the security of the nation and lives of the citizenry as this could be a tip of some unhidden agenda particularly because of the country of origin of the suspect.
The alleged rape incident occurred in December 2017 and the family say they do not want to be known to the public because of the risk involved.
The defiled lady who was 14 years old at the time is currently receiving treatment as it has been reported that she suffered some trauma from the incident
The suspect is believed to be about 60 years old.
