The Koforidua High Court, presided over by Justice George Krofa Addae, has sentenced 53-year-old Musa Maliki, also known as Musa Bariki, to life imprisonment for the murders of three individuals, including his 12-year-old girlfriend, in Ayenasu, a village in the Eastern Region.
After a fifteen-year trial, the court found Maliki guilty on three counts of murder.
The Court said, “By the coming into force of the Criminal Offences Amendment Act, 2003, the punishment for the offense of murder is life imprisonment in Count 1, life imprisonment on Count 2, and life imprisonment on Count 3, all to run concurrently.”
The case details reveal that both the convict, Musa Maliki alias Musa Bariki, and Issifu Musa in this case were herdsmen at Ayenasu village located along the Afram River bank near Sempoa.
Deceased Rama Fati, aged 12, and Baliki Maliki, aged 18, were siblings, while Issifu Musa, aged 20, was their uncle.
For months, the accused person, Musa Maliki, who was 38 years old then, had been making persistent romantic advances to the deceased, Fati Rama, requesting to marry her, but she declined.
On 10th October 2009, at about 7:00 pm, Issifu Musa sent Rama Fati and one other to buy Milo for him.
Musa Maliki accosted them, dragged Rama Fati into his room, and started beating her up.
This information reached Issifu Musa and Baliki Maliki, who rushed to rescue the girl from the room of the accused person.
This led to a confrontation between them, but they were separated by some residents.
However, the accused person took offense.
On the night of October 10-11, 2009, Maliki attacked the victims while they were asleep.
He fatally stabbed Baliki Maliki and slit the throat of Rama Fati. Issifu Musa was also murdered when he attempted to confront Maliki.
A witness, a 10-year-old, luckily managed to escape by hiding on the roof of the room.
The accused went into hiding.
The Abetifi Police were informed, and the police went for the bodies of the deceased persons, and a postmortem was performed on them.
The cause of death of all the deceased persons was given as hemorrhagic shock.
On 11th February 2010, the accused person was arrested at Nkawkaw.
He confessed to the crimes during police interrogation, was charged with murder, and was found guilty by the Koforidua High Court.
TWI NEWS
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