Man, 84, fined for marrying off minor

An 84-year-old man has been fined by an Accra Circuit Court for marrying off her underage daughter.

The court ordered Mallam Gado, the accused, to pay GHS600 or in default serve a year’s imprisonment after it found him guilty of giving his 17-year-old daughter’s hand in marriage.

Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbele, prosecuting, stated that Gado, on July 29, 2015, returned home and informed his wife and daughter, a high school student that he had accepted the dowry from a suitor, hence the daughter had to leave home and join her husband.

According to him, despite pleas from mother and child for Gado to rescind his decision, he stood his grounds and had her daughter relocated to her ‘matrimonial’ home.

But anonymous persons tipped the police off on the matter, leading to Gado’s arrest and prosecution.

Sentencing, Justice Abena Oppong Agyen Duku, said Gado had acted wrongfully, given that his daughter was below 18, the statutory age for marriage.