Computer Repairer who offered GH₵3 to continue sexual escapades with minor jailed

A 30-year-old computer repairer who gave his mobile phone and GH₵3 bribe to continue having sex with a girl aged 11, has been jailed.

Sadiq Salifu Karim, who had earlier pleaded not guilty was found culpable by the Accra Circuit Court. He has been slapped with a 10-year-jail term.

Delivering the sentence, the circuit court judge noted that “due to the severity of the crime, the age of the victim and how these cases continue to rise, the accused be sentenced to serve as a deterrent.”

The facts of the case, according to the prosecution is that the complainant Adwoa Tweneboah, age 47 years is a trader and lives at Kasoa in the Central Region.

Mrs Tweneboah is a mother to the 11-year-old victim (name withheld) while the accused, Karim is a computer repairer who lives at Agbogloshie.

The complainant normally comes to Agbogloshie with the victim to trade and the victim spends her leisure time sitting at a drinking spot known as  ‘Abena’s spot,’ closer to her mum’s workplace.

In May 2020, the victim went to the spot and while there, Karim, who had been running errands for the drinking spot owner came around and introduced himself to the victim.

According to the prosecution, he proposed love to the victim and directed her to come to his house. The victim followed the direction and went to the accused person’s house.

On reaching there, Karim made the victim sit on a student mattress on the floor. He hurriedly locked the door and removed his shorts and shirt.

The prosecution said he raised the victim’s dress, removed her pant, forcefully inserted his penis into the victim’s vagina and had intercourse with her for the first time.

After the act, Karim warned the victim not to disclose the ordeal to anybody, so the victim kept the ordeal to herself.

On June 15, this year, the victim went to sit at the spot as usual and the accused person again came around to chat with her.

While chatting, Karim “gave his phone and an amount of GH₵3.00 to the victim and told her to use it as a care to seek permission from the spot owner to meet him.”

The victim obliged and went to Karim’s house. On reaching there, Karim took advantage and had sexual intercourse with her for the second time.

The complainant went to the spot to look for the victim and the spot owner told her that the victim has gone to Karim’s house so she made a follow-up but did not find the victim.

Later on, the complainant spotted the victim at a distance coming towards the spot. She approached the victim and questioned her.

The victim disclosed the incident to the complainant and showed her blood-stained pant to the complainant.

The mother of the victim, on hearing the incident, reported the case to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.

Police accompanied the victim to the hospital for examination, treatment and a report was submitted.

Karim was arrested but he denied the offence in his caution statement. After investigations, he was charged with the offence and put before the court.

Research by theghanareport.com has revealed that 96 children below ages of 15 were defiled in Accra alone for 2019.

The figure constitutes the number of only reported cases being tried at the Accra Circuit in 2019.

Many experts say this figure could be more as parents of rape victims, for fear of social rejection and “shame” refuse to report such incidents to authorities.

In some cases, even when the cases are reported, the intervention of highly placed persons lead to these cases being withdrawn to be settled at home. Also, in some cases, compensations are offered to the victim and family.

And this is the scenario across the length and breadth of the country, which suggests that a lot more girls are defiled almost on daily basis.