37-year-old man sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for defiling a minor

Correspondence from Ashanti Region

The Bekwai Circuit Court in the Ashanti Region, presided over by Justice Isaac Appietu, has sentenced 37-year-old Mohammed Abubakari, popularly known as Wofa Abu, a security man, to 15 years' imprisonment for defiling an 8-year-old girl (name withheld).

His crime, according to the court, is contrary to section 101(2) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29).

The complainant, Vida Wominnia, aged 37, is a trader residing at Anyinam near Ahenema Kokoben in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region and also the mother of the eight-year-old victim.

According to the police, "On 27th June 2026, at 11 am, the accused person spotted the victim with her friends and sent them to buy carrots for him. Upon their return with the carrots, the accused lured the victim and her friends to his room. He subsequently told the victim to go and wash the carrots in the kitchen for him, leaving the victim's friends in his room. It was in the kitchen that he undressed the victim and had sexual intercourse with her, and warned her not to tell anyone, including her friends, else he would beat her. After a while, the accused escorted the victim and her friends out of the house. After some days, the victim narrated the ordeal to her friends and the news spread to the victim's mother."

It is further revealed that, on July 11, 2026, the complainant questioned her daughter about the said incident and she confirmed that the accused person had sexual intercourse with her.

The complainant reported the case to the Trede DOVVSU of the Ghana Police Service, where a police medical form was issued to the complainant to send the victim to the hospital for examination, treatment and endorsement of the form.

After the doctor's report from the Suntreso Government Hospital, it was indicated that the victim's hymen had been broken. Police therefore mounted a search and got the accused apprehended.

A lead investigator, Detective Inspector Gifty Asare-Brenya, with her team, swiftly visited the crime scene.

During his interrogation at the crime scene and in his subsequent caution statement, the accused admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the victim, blaming his actions on the devil.

On July 15, 2026, he was arraigned before the Bekwai Circuit Court and remanded in custody to reappear on July 17, 2026, at which time he appeared as scheduled.

The Prosecutor, Inspector Godfred Odoom, prayed for the plea of the accused to be taken. The accused pleaded guilty.

Then Justice Isaac Appietu sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment with hard labour, and he is currently serving his jail term in Kumasi Central Prison.