East Legon murder: High Court directs lawyer to serve prosecution with documents
The Accra High Court has directed Counsel for the man accused of killing his wife at their East Legon residence, to serve state prosecution with court documents.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, Lawyer Nkrabea Effah Dartey had been ordered to serve the court and the Attorney General’s office with proceedings from the Madina District Court, where the case first started.
Proceedings from the Madina court would enable the Accra High Court to make a determination of Mr Dartey’s bail application.
Mr Dartey resorted to the High Court after the Madina Court denied his client bail.
But Mr Dartey failed to provide the court with the said documents.
On Wednesday, when the case was called, Counsel for the accused Mr Dartey told the court that he received “the instruction late and was unable to serve interested parties in the case”.
He said he filed the documents on Wednesday morning, thus the delay.
The Accra High Court judge Merilyn Wood gave counsel for the accused another opportunity to do so.
He is to ensure all interested parties are served before the next adjourned date, which is April 12, 2021.
Engagement with the media after court proceedings at the last court sitting
Father of the deceased Seth Charles Kanglah Blasu said he is happy the case had begun and is hopeful that justice would be served for his daughter.
The president of FIDA, Afua Addotey, together with some gender
activists thronged the Madina court in solidarity with the deceased and all women victims of such treatments.
She told the media that the fight was not for only Lilian, but for all women.
Mrs Addotey charged the investigation department to exhaust all possible means to carry out thorough investigations to ensure that justice is done.
She used the opportunity to appeal to the President to strengthen the country’s social protection system to benefit survivors and victims of intimate partner violence, to enable them to attain an appreciable level of financial independence.
“It is critical for survivors of domestic violence and intimate partner violence to find a place that can provide them with shelter. This is a pressing need which is long overdue, and we call upon the new Gender Minister, Hon Adwoa Saro to explore the possibility of making this a reality,” she added.
Aside from the women group, some family members and sympathisers of the late Lilian Dodzi converged on the premises of the court.
Most of them were clad in black and red T-shirts, holding placards with inscriptions such as Justice for Lilian, Stop domestic violence now!
How it all started
On March 10, this year, a district court in Madina remanded in police custody Prince Charles Dedjoe, a businessman, suspected of killing his 43-year-old wife.
He was arrested on Sunday, March 7, 2021, for allegedly killing his wife in their residence at East Legon.
The accused person has been slapped with a murder charge.
The police report revealed that a day before the incident, the father of the deceased complained that his daughter had been severely assaulted by her husband (accused person).
But Mr Dedjoe, a day after the father-in-law’s report, reported his side of the story to the police.
“At about 3:20 am on the said day, he rushed out from bed upon hearing his wife scream only to find her lying unconscious on their staircase.
“He, together with his two children, quickly rushed her to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival,” according to the husband’s statement to the police.
Following the report, the suspect was arrested and detained.