Hunt for father who want 15-year-old daughter to marry

Nkwanta, June 19, GNA - A father who has been harassing her 15-year-old daughter, Koyapua Manlil, for refusing to get married is being sought by the Nkwanta Police.

Nnaa Manlil and Manlil, his son, allegedly shaved Koyapua with a broken bottle and used a cutlass to lacerate her left leg with a threat to cut off the leg if she did not give in to their decision to get married.

Mr Sekyere Bruku, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, told the GNA at Nkwanta that in December last year, Mnaa Manlil and his son who lived at Sibi near Damanko demanded that Koyapua married one Yaw Tebu. Tebu is also on the run and being sought by the police. He said Koyapua refused and fled to Nkwanta where she lodged a complaint with the Department of Social Welfare.

The department put Koyapua in the care of the Kokomba Headman at Nkwanta and information was sent to her father and brother to come to their offices for an amicable settlement but the two did not show up. He said on December 12 last year Mnaa Manlil and his son, while visiting Nkwanta, spotted Koyapua. They chased into the Police Station where she had sought sanctuary and were arrested.

Mr Bruku said the police and the Department of Social Welfare collaborated to mediate and advised the parents of Koyapua against forcing her into early marriage but should assist her to learn a trade. He said on January 27 Koyapua went to the police at Nkwanta and reported that she was bundled to live at Djoo, a village near Lepusy in the Northern Region with her supposed husband and in her attempt to escape was caught, shaved and given a cut in the leg.

Mr Bruku said Koyapua later fled through the bush and emerged at Damanko from where she picked a vehicle to Nkwanta. He said Koyapua, who is being catered for by the police, is now in the custody of the Assemblyman of Sibi. Mr Bruku said Manlil and his son have absconded from the village.