Three-year-old Kwabena Atta, collapsed and died while his two-and-half-year old brother, Kwadwo Atta, was rushed to the New Edubaise Hospital unconscious last Monday, after they gulped down a quantity of Apeteshie suspected to have been laced with poison.
The half-bottle size of the local gin was meant for their father, Egya Donkor, a fetish priest of Anwona village, near Anhwiaso in the Adansi East District.
Two people, Kwasi Ahiadu and Kwasi Mensah, both farmers of the village, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Briefing the Times on Thursday, a police source said that Ahiadu who belief that evil spirits were haunting him, went to Egya Donkor's shrine with a half-size bottle of Akpeteshie about two weeks ago for certain rituals to be performed for him.
On the way to the shrine, Ahiadu met a friend, Mensah, who collected the bottle and drank some of the content. Mensah then gave money to Ahiadu to buy some of the drink to top up the bottle.
After adding quarter-size bottle of the liquor, Ahiadu took it to the shrine and left it with the priest’s wife, promising to return later to see the priest later as he was not in.
Last Monday, the two little boys, during the absence of their parents from home, drank some of the liquor and ate some soup in an aluminum pot kept in a room.
A few minutes later, they fell unconscious and were rushed to the nearby New Edubiase Hospital by neighbours but Kwabena Atta died on the way. Kwadwo was admitted to the hospital with a bloated stomach.
