Kidnapped Takoradi woman: ‘My wife was nine months pregnant’- Husband insists

The husband of kidnapped but found, 28-year-old woman in the Western Region, Michael Simmons, has refuted claims that his wife was not pregnant prior to her abduction.

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Otchere Darko Mensah, has said preliminary investigation and examination by doctors show that Josephine Panyin Mensah was never pregnant.

“Information available to me from national security and doctors indicates that the ’missing but found woman’ was never pregnant and there was no mark of assault too on her,” he said

But Simmons, husband of Josephine Panyin Mensah, insists checks at a hospital they had visited would prove that his wife was pregnant prior to her abduction.

“My wife was nine months pregnant and so she moved in with her mum because her delivery date was due prior to the kidnapping incident. I am very worried about the rumors making rounds and I want to halt the interview to process my thoughts” he Accra-based Citi FM.

Simmons was moved to tears by the words of the regional minister, claiming he should have made his checks with the hospital before coming out with that piece of information.

Josephine Panyin Mensah, who was said to have been nursing a near-term pregnancy, was reported missing after going for a routine dawn walk on Thursday, September 16, 2021, in Takoradi.

Later, a group of the suspected abductors requested ransom before releasing her, Emmanuel Ackon, brother-in-law to Josephine told the media.

Barely a week after, Josephine was found in Axim but without her pregnancy.

According to her brother-in-law, Josephine was found in a state of shock and was unable to speak.

“All she could do was to motion for a piece of paper and pen on which she scribbled her pastor’s contact number,” he said.

But, according to the Western Regional Minister, the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) indicates that the story of kidnapping is fake.

“Yesterday, the [NIB] sent me a report that she has been found and was receiving treatment at the Axim Government Hospital, however, their preliminary investigation and examination shows that she was never pregnant as has been reported. They suspect that this whole story was fabricated,” he said.

He insists the dirtied appearance the woman sported when she was found might have been as a result of spending days in her hideout.

“I have asked the Police to investigate Josephine and her husband since I suspect the whole episode could be a hoax”, the minister said in an earlier interview with Kofi TV.