35-year-old man jailed 71 years for defiling seven minors
The Wa Circuit Court has sentenced 35-year-old Ahmed Rashid to 71 years imprisonment on 10 counts of defilement.
The prosecutor for the case, Principal State Attorney Saeed Abdul- Shakuur, revised an earlier 12 counts of defilement against the convict and mounted five different dockets, which contained 15 defilement charges and five attempted cases of defilement.
Twelve victims initially reported the unlawful incident, which had been perpetuated by the convict for a long time and four more were confirmed to have suffered multiple sexual penetrations by the suspect while the case was ongoing.
A medical officer at the Wa Municipal Hospital, Dr Alhassan Mohammed Mubarak, confirmed the assaults in a quiet and teary court on August 23, which added up to the sentencing of the convict.
Dr. Mubarak confirmed that all the victims had lost their hymens.
Rashid had denied the charges against him and pleaded not guilty.
The court, presided by His Honor Jonathan Avogo made the decision after the convict, a local master of ceremonies (MC) was found guilty of having sex with seven minors (girls) contrary to section 101 of the Criminal Offenses Act, Act 29.
In May 2023, the suspected paedophile fled Wa after he was accused by some girls of defilement in a viral video on social media.
Following the allegations by the girls, Mr Eliasu Baba Yussif, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bahass Foundation in Wa, lodged a formal complaint with the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service on behalf of the alleged victims.
Rashid was first arrested in 2014 for allegedly defiling some children but was left off the hook, which Mr Shakur attributed to the interference of some members of society.
The suspect was re-arrested earlier in August and arraigned before the Wa Circuit Court and was subsequently remanded to enable the police to conclude its investigations.
Mr Saeed Abdul Shakur, the Principal State Attorney in the Upper West Region, told the media in Wa that the suspect was denied bail, considering the gravity of the crime he was suspected to have committed and the risk of reprisal attack on him by some members of the public.
“Someone who has left the district before, we cannot be sure he will not escape, considering the gravity of the offences and the punishment that will be meted out if he is convicted.
“We are talking about a minimum of eight years and a maximum of 25 years in each of the counts, if we succeed with the case he might be going in for a long term, so if the court allows him on bail, we might not get him to try.
“We also say that it is in his own interest because of the anger, you can gauge the anger in society … if such a person is let loose we might not even get him to try, people might take the law into their own hands, so in order to prevent that situation too, we prayed the court to keep him in custody,” the Principal State Attorney explained.