RESEARCH by theghanareport.com has revealed that 96 children below the ages of 15 were defiled in Accra alone in 2019.
The figure constitutes the number of only reported cases in the country’s judicial service, the Accra Circuit during 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In some cases, even when the cases are reported, the intervention of highly placed persons leads to these cases being withdrawn to be settled at home.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 daily.
Even though the courts mete out severe punishment to rapists, however, the acts of child molestation and abuse continue to rise with each passing day.
It seems as though, mere punishment to prison terms may not have deterred many such rapists. Neighbouring “big brother” Nigeria recently passed a law that will ensure that an adult male who rapes a victim is castrated.
Many have suggested that this form of punishment is stretching the law beyond what is accepted and proper in a diverse multi-cultural environment such as Ghana.
Others point to the horrific stories yet untold and the psychological trauma victims of rape go through as a clear case for stiffer punishment for offenders such as the one Nigeria has introduced.
Theghanareport.com in a series of people-centered journalism brings to you the stories behind the statistics and reveals the horrific trauma, pain, and social rejection some of the rape victims go through.
These are the stories of how these unsuspecting victims fall prey to people they least expected would break their trust.
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On May 4, 2018, a 10-year-old girl [name withheld] went to wash her hands at the tap at the boys’ quarters but little did she know that would soon become one of her most dreaded memories.
The accused person, a 35-year-old cleaner Akwasi Nyantakyi, happens to be living at the same house as the victim at Ringway Estates, Osu.
The accused person and one other Akwasi Agyemang, are family members of the victim’s father who live at the boys’ quarters.
On that fateful day, the accused person who was in the boy’s quarters met the victim at the tap when he also came to wash his hands and bowls.
Forgetting why he came to the tap, Nyantakyi started fondling the victim who returned the favour with a hefty slap on the hand.
Angered by the victim’s swift response, the accused person pulled the victim to the corridor of the boys’ quarters and made her sit on his lap.
He had sexual intercourse with her and after pushed the victim off his lap.
Pains of the act persisted, with blood oozing from her private parts. The next day, the victim reported the incident to her parents and a formal complaint was made.
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On March 16, 2019, at about 7:00 pm, the accused person Paul Oko met the 11-year-old victim at a game centre in the vicinity and sent him to buy water for him.
When the victim returned with the water, the accused lured him into his room and forcibly had sexual intercourse with him through the anus.
Thereafter, the accused sternly warned the victim never to disclose the situation to anyone.
“Once, he does he will not be brilliant in school again,” the accused warned.
Frightened by the threat, the victim kept the issue to himself.
Days after the dreaded event, the victim started feeling severe pains inside his waist and anus but he still did not tell anyone because of the warning.
He, however, told his mother of the pains he was feeling but indicated to his mother [Martha Mensah] that he fell from a tree.
The situation compelled the mother to examine his anus and surprisingly the mother detected an anomaly inside the victim’s anus as the anus appeared reddish.
She interrogated him further and this time the victim broke down in tears.
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The complainant Cecilia Daakye is the mother of the victim aged 9 while the accused Robert Mensah aged 45 is a driver at the Presbyterian Church at Abossey Okai, Accra.
On June 10, 2019, the victim followed a certain woman called Theresa who worked in the church premises as a labourer to the church.
The victim stayed at Madam Theresa’s house at Mateheko and played with the woman’s two-year-old daughter.
While playing with the child in the church annex room, the accused went to the victim and told her they should play together.
The accused then started chasing the victim in the church room playfully.
He then got hold of her behind the altar put her on the floor and inserted his finger into her vagina and again put his penis into her vagina.
He had sexual intercourse with her on three occasions behind the church pulpit.
The victim did not inform the mother till she got sick and was treated.
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On September 14, 2019, at about 10:00 pm, the complainant’s son Abdul Rheman fell sick and was taken to the Ridge Hospital Accra.
He was, however, admitted so the complainant could not come back home as scheduled.
In the evening, around 7:00 pm, the complainant, Shantelle Ansah, called the accused person Ebenezer Mawuli Ayivor alias Godfather, who is 45 years and a boxer to go and give GH₵5 to the victim who was alone at home to buy food.
The accused person obliged and gave the money to the 11-year-old victim, who went to buy the food.
But after that, the accused person lied to the victim that the complainant [Shantelle Ansah] said she should sleep in his room.
While the victim was sleeping in his room, the accused took advantage and had intercourse with her.
During the act, the accused put a pillow on her head to prevent neighbours from hearing her cries.
Still trying to protect her dignity, the victim closed her thighs firmly to prevent Godfather from getting access to her frail body.
But the accused first put a stick in between her thighs and hit her with the same stick, leading her to open her thighs. The act left huge scars on her left thigh.
On September 15, last year, the mother went home and met the victim crying.
She narrated the ordeal she went through, which led to Godfather’s arrest.
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The complainant, Ala Mensah Ibrahim, is a retired driver who lives in La, Accra and is the father of the 15-year-old victim.
The accused Joshua Quarshie, age 19 years, is an assistant clearing agent and lives at Kuntunse near Amasaman.
In July 2019, the accused was sent by his boss to dispatch an item to a lady in La where he met the victim.
He engaged her in a conversation which led to the exchange of numbers. They started chatting on the phone.
On August 3, 2019, in the morning the accused called the victim on the phone and gave her directions to meet him at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
When she got to Circle, the accused asked her again to board a passenger’s bus at Odawna – Nsawam lorry station to Kuntunse and she obliged.
When she got to Kuntunse Satellite junction, the accused sent his friend who picked her to his house.
The accused then invited her to his room and had sexual intercourse with her.
He had another bout of intercourse with her on August 4, that same year and kept her in his room for another day.
All this while, the father and other family members were looking for the victim and had reported the matter to the La police.
However, on August 5, 2019, the victim called her classmate, one Charity Anavroma and gave her directions to come to the accused person’s place.
The victim’s friend informed the father about the development, which led to the arrest of the accused person
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The complainant, Simon Akompi, is a Police Inspector with the Ayi Mensah District Command. The victim [name withheld] aged 15 years is a Junior High School leaver from the University of Ghana Basic School, awaiting her results.
The accused Ben Nyamu aged 42 years is a tutor at the aforementioned school.
On July 12, 2018, at about 11:00 am, while the complainant and his team were on patrols, they had intelligence that the accused had lured the victim into a room on his building project site at Abokobi to engage her in sex.
The complainant and his team proceeded to the scene and met the accused person with the victim naked.
When questioned as to why they were naked, the victim said she and the accused had finished having sexual intercourse and were relaxing.
Based on this, the accused person was arrested and brought to the Adenta DOVVSU together with the victim and a formal complaint was made.
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Second time in a row, a male victim. The complainant, Evelyn Newton, age 48, is a trader who lives in Agbado, a suburb of Accra and the 9-year-old victim is dumb.
The accused person Reginald Annan is 19 years old and a caterer.
On July 29, 2017, at about 8:00 am, the complainant left the victim in the care of his grandmother and left for the market.
At about 1:30 pm, Madam Newton came to the house to give food to her son but could not trace his whereabouts.
Later when she was entering the house she saw the victim running from the other house towards her. On reaching there, the victim removed his jeans shorts, bent down and used his finger to point his anus.
The complainant then asked the victim what happened to him, he held the complainant’s hand and pulled her to the accused person’s porch.
He demonstrated how the accused lured him, removed his jeans to his knee level, bent him down and inserted his penis into his anus.
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The accused person, 21-year-old Enoch Ampiah is a hair stylist who offers home service to his clients.
On November 27, 2018, at 9:00 am, the victim’s mother left home to register for the National Identification Card.
She left the 6-year-old girl and her younger brother, of three years, in the care of their security man.
At 10:00 am, the mother called the security man to come and stand in the queue for her to go and attend to her children.
The accused person, who realised the absence of the security man and the girl’s parents entered the house and had sex with the victim.
After the act, the accused person went to the bathhouse, removed his penis and started washing it with water in the presence of the victim’s younger brother.
He left shortly after but was picked up by the police when the victim’s parents made a formal complaint.
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In this case, the accused person on three different occasions made sexual advances towards the victim [name withheld] on three different occasions.
The 15-year-old victim refused the offer of the 28-year-old businessman Kwame Gyamfi.
However, the accused person lives in the same house as the complainant.
In August 2018, the victim went to the bathroom to urinate. Whilst urinating with her pants down to her knee, the accused person barged into the bathroom.
He ordered the victim to bend down on a tall kitchen stool lying in the bathroom.
Gyamfi inserted his penis into the victim’s vagina from behind and had sexual intercourse with her.
The accused person told the victim to lie that she was raped by a certain man. Feeling threatened, the victim kept the ordeal to herself.
On January 14, 2019, the complainant who brought the matter to the court detected some changes in the victim’s body and questioned her but she didn’t answer.
The next day, January 15, the complainant sent the victim to the La Polyclinic for a checkup and upon examination, it was detected the victim was six months pregnant.
This time around, she narrated her ordeal to her sister.
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The grandmother of an 11-year-old girl has been forced to deal with the bitter and painful memory of her grandchild being sexually abused by a cobbler.
The accused person, Alex Boateng and the victim [name withheld] both live at Kingsby, Achimota, a suburb of Accra.
On September 25, 2018, at about 4:30 pm, the victim was going to visit her classmate in the neighbourhood. On the way, the accused person accosted her.
He lured the victim into an uncompleted building within Rama Church premises at Kingsby and there gave her some drink which made her drowsy.
The accused person then put the victim on the bare floor, removed her panties and had sexual intercourse with her.
Halfway through the third round, the victim managed to push the accused person and escape.
Immediately, after she got home, the victim narrated the ordeal to her grandmother which led to his arrest.
He admitted having had sex with the victim three times but denied giving her any drink.
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A 16-year-old student of Day Spring International School who rejected the proposal of a security guard had to deal with the unfortunate revenge plan of the guard.
The accused person works with the Nightingale School of Nursing. The victim’s school happens to be attached to his house.
In October 2018, the accused told a witness in the case called Richard Sarfo to go and tell the victim to come to the administration block.
When the victim got there, the accused held her neck and started kissing her.
He lured the victim into her father’s office inside the above-mentioned block and placed her on the table and inserted his penis into her vagina and forcibly had intercourse with her.
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In a quest to get her money back from a classmate, the 14-year-old girl who lives in James Town met her attacker, a kebab seller.
The accused person is a 33-year-old Nii Sackey Kojo Blankson popularly known in the area as Paajoe who lives within the same vicinity as the complainant.
On July 26, 2018, the victim went to school and a friend borrowed money from her and promised to return the money after school.
At about 5:00 pm, the same day when school was over, the victim did not see her friend so she followed up to her friend’s house but met her absence.
In her friend’s absence was the accused person who told her that the friend in question had already come for the money.
As she tried to leave, the accused person held the victim by the hand and dragged her into his room where he had sexual intercourse with her.
The victim got home late after the incident and when the complainant questioned her for lateness, she revealed her ordeal to him.
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The complainant in this case is a trader and lives at Banana Inn, Dansoman with her son, the 6-year-old victim.
The accused person, Solomon Brown, 20 years old, is unemployed and also lives at Dansoman.
In January 2019, the victim was standing in front of their house when the victim was passing by to visit a friend.
The accused called the victim and lured him into a fitting shop at Manbruk Mango Down Dansoman, took him to a corner and forcibly had intercourse with him through his anus.
A witness, Abeka Isaac, who saw the accused in the act arrested him and sent him to the Dansoman Police Station.
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On December 18, 2018, at about 11:00 am, one Emmanuel Abionu, a classmate of the victim [name withheld] asked the victim to accompany him to Ayi Mensah to withdraw Tigo mobile money.
As they returned, they passed through a footpath leading to the school. On reaching the section of the footpath, they met seven dangerously looking men smoking cigarette.
In their attempt to escape, the victim fell down. The men then held the victim and dragged her into the bush and had sexual intercourse with her.
Thereafter, they bolted and left the victim alone. The victim quickly went to Ayi Mensah Police Station and made a formal report.
The victim led the police to the first and second accused persons. The other five suspects are at large.
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The victim lives with a guardian at Ofankor, Accra. She was allegedly raped by an ‘uncle’ of the guardian, a 40-year-old carpenter, Atsu Amedume.
The victim was then living with the accused person’s late mother until she died some years ago.
The guardian took custody of the victim and she occupied the room left by the deceased.
The accused came from Affram Plains in the Eastern Region for the funeral and has since not returned. He was sleeping in the same room as the victim.
In March 2019 at about 4:00 am, the accused took advantage of the victim and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her in the room.
He then warned her not to get the guardian informed. The victim feared she would be beaten or sacked from the house, and thus kept the ordeal to herself.
In the second week of March 2019, the accused again had sexual intercourse with her. She resisted but he overpowered her and had sex with her.
On April 11, 2019, at about 4:00 am, the accused attempted to have sex with her again. She begged him to stop the act since it would jeopardize her education.
After the last straw, the victim could not keep the ordeal to herself any longer and got her guardian informed, which led to his arrest.
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The 45-year-old accused person, Dramani Adams is a private security man who lives in Adenta, Maame Dokono area.
The accused person called the 15-year-old victim to an uncompleted-storey building on her way back home.
Adams lured her into one of the rooms downstairs and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.
It didn’t end with just one escapade. The following day, during the same hours, the accused again lured her to the same room and had his way with her.
On May 22, 2018, her aunt observed changes and forced her to take a pregnancy test, which came out positive.
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A 13-year-old Junior High School student who lives with her grandmother at James Town was defiled by a 19-year-old Disc Jockey (DJ) Enock Otoo Lamptey.
In November 2017, the accused and the victim became friends. The accused person in the same month on two occasions lured the victim into his house and had sexual intercourse with her.
After each act, the prosecution held that the accused warned the victim not to tell anyone and she equally kept the ordeal to herself.
The victim became pregnant and the grandmother detected it. It was then she narrated all the encounters.
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The complainant Aku Adotei is a cleaner and aunt to the victim [name withheld]. They both live in Nungua, Accra.
The accused person Stephen Nyarko is a driver and is friends with the complainant and hence comes to the house periodically.
However, on one of his usual visits, the complainant noticed the victim hiding from the accused person anytime he came around which increased her suspicion.
Upon interrogation, the victim revealed there was a day the accused lured her to a hotel in Nungua and had sexual intercourse with her.
She was threatened by the accused never to disclose the situation to anyone.
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On March 9, last year, at about 8:00 pm, the 14-year-old victim who was sent to buy her grandmother some porridge was defiled by a cobbler, Dennis Tetteh, 27 years old.
The accused person who had already made up his mind to defile the young girl deliberately sent her to buy him water when returning from the porridge seller.
When the victim brought the water, the accused took her to a wooden kiosk which served as his working place and forcibly devoured her.
The accused person for fear that the victim may inform her friends on her way home told his friend to escort her home.
However, the victim’s grandmother heard rumours of the sexual encounter and questioned the victim who confessed.
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The accused person Emmanuel Kyei, who is a driver and co-tenant to the complainant Elizabeth Mensah inserted his finger into the vagina of a 3-year-old girl.
On September 23, 2018, at about 9:00 pm, the complainant’s elder daughter informed Madam Mensah about a suspicion of someone inserting his finger into the victim’s vagina and anus.
When questioned, the victim said the accused Emmanuel had indeed inserted his finger into her private parts.
A medical report confirmed the victim had been sexually abused and her hymen broken.
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A nine-year-old Class 3 pupil of Bernard Academy, on February 21, last year at 7:00 pm was going to buy food when the unfortunate incident occurred.
The accused person, who is a glass fabricator saw the victim with cloth wrapped around her chest and lured her into his kiosk.
The complainant arrived minutes late and saw the victim’s slippers in front of the accused person’s kiosk.
When she entered, she saw the accused person having sexual intercourse with her daughter on a three-in-one sofa in his kiosk, with his boxers pulled down and the victim’s cloth pulled up.
The witness screamed when she saw the accused in the act.
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A 20-year-old washing bay attendant at Teshie Tebibiano in Accra, Daniel Cobbina, on two occasions, had sex with the 12-year-old girl.
The accused person who happens to be staying at the same house had sex with the victim at a public bathhouse.
After the incident, he threatened her not to disclose the situation to the parents else he would stab her to death.
On January 17, 2019, the mother of the victim noticed changes in the victim’s gait and interviewed her.
She disclosed the sexual encounter and threat.
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In September 2018, a 35-year-old shoemaker, who resides in Chorkor was caught defiling a 10-year-old girl.
On the day of the incident, the victim closed from school around 3 pm and was on her way home when the accused lured her to the back of someone’s window.
The accused had intercourse with her through the anus.
In the evening, the aunt detected that her gait had changed, which led to a series of questions.
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The victim is the complainant’s daughter while the accused [Laryea] is unemployed and staying in the same house together with both the complainant and the victim.
Between June and July 2018, the accused person started luring the victim into his room and having sex with her.
When the amorous relationship came to the notice of the complainant, he warned the accused to stop and stay away from his daughter.
In March 2019, the accused resumed sexual intercourse with the victim again in a bathroom inside the house and sometimes, in his room despite the complainant’s warning.
However, the sexual escapade continued until September 2019 when the victim got pregnant as a result of their numerous escapades.
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The accused person who is a mason, Eric Kofiste, in 2019, defiled his 13-year-old stepdaughter and impregnated her.
The girl who could no longer stand the sexual exploitation reported the matter to her mother, who promised to talk her husband out of the practice.
That, however, failed and the suspect continued to defile her. The mother then decided to send the girl to go and live with her sister. The girl, however, could not live with her aunt so she came back to her mother.
Her stepfather, Kofitse, then continued to defile the girl when she returned to the house.
The prosecution added that the 13-year-old girl ran to her biological father because she could not stand the persistent sexual assault from her stepfather.
The father then lodged a complaint with the police after his daughter informed him of the sexual attacks she had been subjected.
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A 23-year-old vulcanizer apprentice, Isaac Duvor, defiled a six-year-old girl at Teshie in November 2019.
The accused person has always been offering the victim toffees, biscuits, soft drinks and sometimes money. The complainant who realized this, warned the accused to stop offering gifts to the victim.
But the accused persisted.
The situation compelled the complainant to question the victim, who disclosed that for some time now, Duvor calls her under the pretext of giving her money and on one occasion, the accused called her junior brother and offered him GH50 pesewas and asked him to wait outside.
The accused then lured the victim into the kiosk which served as his sleeping place and defiled her.
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On February 1, 2018, at about 4:00 pm while the victim’s mother was not at home, the suspect [Maxwell Mbawuli] went to the house, took advantage of the victim and had sexual intercourse with her.
The victim’s mother came back home around 7 pm and the victim narrated the ordeal to her mother.
The victim, together with her mother, went to the police station and reported the case. The accused was arrested but he denied the offence in his caution statement.
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The bravery of a 13-year-old victim
The victim [name withheld], age 13 years lived with her aunt Rita Aygemang at Achimota Golf Hills. The aunt relocated to Ashaiman and due to the victim’s school, she moved to live with the accused and his family at Achimota Gulf Hills.
In 2018, the accused person’s wife travelled and left behind their children and the victim. The accused took advantage of the absence of his wife and forcibly had sex with the victim.
This sexual act continued even when the wife returned.
On March 30, 2019, at dawn, whilst the victim was sleeping in the sitting room, the accused sneaked into the sitting room and forcibly had sex with her again.
The victim who could not bear the ordeal anymore went to Achimota School Police Station and lodged a complaint to the police where the aunty was called in to assist in investigations.
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The complainant, Godwin Seshie, is a retired public servant and resides at Adenta New site with the victim aged 14, who is her granddaughter.
The accused person is a trader who resided at Madina New Road. Both the victim and the accused person are natives of Gbadzeme in the Volta Region.
The accused proposed love to the victim and later travelled to Accra.
On April 22, last year, the accused invited the victim to his house at Madina New Road and had sexual intercourse with her for the second time.
On June 17, 2019, the accused person had sexual intercourse with the victim for the third time in his house and later hired a taxi to take the victim home.
The victim who was scared of going home wandered in the neighbourhood until some neighbours took her home on June 19, that same year at 12:30am.
The complainant who had earlier reported a case of a missing child on June 17, 2019, at the Adenta Police Station quickly caused the arrest of the accused person when the victim mentioned him as the one, she had gone to.
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A 37-year-old labourer Abdul Rahman defiled a 13-year-old girl who is the daughter of the complainant, Amina Sumaila.
The accused person lives with the victim’s grandmother.
The victim sleeps with the grandmother in the same room whilst the accused sleeps outside the room.
In May 2018, in the night, whilst the victim was sleeping in the room, the accused sneaked into the room and tried to have intercourse with the victim.
The victim woke up and found the accused having sex with her with his trousers on his knee level and her underwear removed.
The accused then warned the victim not to disclose the act to anyone in the house and that if she did, he would kill her.
In June, of that same year, whilst the victim was sleeping in the room, the accused again sneaked into the room and had intercourse with her.
On July 20, 2018, the victim fell sick and she confided in the complainant and narrated her ordeal.
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The complainant, the accused and the victim all live in the same vicinity in Nungua, Accra.
The complainant Elizabeth Laryea is the mother of the victim aged 13 years while the accused person Richard Kwaku Slayor is a 37-year-old security officer.
The complainant operates a drinking bar which the accused person patronises it and got to know the victim.
During the year 2016, the victim was going to choir rehearsal when she met the accused person. He lured her to his uncompleted building under the pretext of giving her mother’s empty bottle to her. He had sexual intercourse with her and warned her not to reveal it to anyone.
In March 2017, the accused person again lured the victim to a different uncompleted building within the same vicinity and had intercourse with her again.
About three weeks ago, the complainant was educating the victim and her other siblings on sexual issues and it was then the victim disclosed her sexual acts between her and the accused person.
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The complainant in this case is a seamstress and a mother to the victim, Blessing Arthur aged 12 years.
The accused is a trader and father to the victim and all live at Temple Gate a suburb of Baastona-Spintex.
The victim has been staying with her mother after separation. The mother and complainant relocated to Nungua.
However, the complainant during the month of January 2019 brought the victim to live with the father at the said place with the stepmother.
Not quite long afterwards, the stepmother travelled to pay a visit to her relatives. On January 5 and 12, 2019 and two other days within the same month, the accused forcibly had sex with the victim.
The victim screamed and shouted for help but the accused gagged her, pulled a knife and threatened to kill her if she told anybody about her ordeal in their makeshift single room.
The victim, however, could not endure the pain any longer and on the third occasion reported the matter to the police.
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The complainant in this case is a businesswoman who lives at La and Oyibi respectively. The accused person completed SHS in 2018 but is unemployed and lives at La.
Somewhere in early February 2019, the victim was sent to go and buy porridge when the accused person called her.
He told her that he wanted them to be friends. The victim left.
After one week, the victim was going to buy the porridge and again, the accused person called her.
He invited her into his room and had sex with her.
The accused continued to have sex with her anytime she was sent to buy something around the area.
But in June 2019, the victim got sick and was sent to the hospital where she was referred to the gynaecologist. When a serum pregnancy test was done, it came out positive.
The victim mentioned the accused as the one responsible.
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The complainant is a trader and resides at Ashaley Botwe with the 12-year-old victim and the accused person, Richard Addo.
On February 21, 2018, the complainant noticed a change in the victim. When questioned the victim narrated that Addo had lured her into his barbering shop and had sex with her on two occasions.
According to the victim, the accused person gave her GH¢2 and warned her not tell anybody.
A report was made and he was arrested.
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The 14-year-old victim lives with the complainant Diana Tenkorang as a house help at South La, Accra.
The suspect Emmanuel Dodzie, 22 years is a driver and lives at Ablekuma.
In February 2019, the victim met the suspect at Ablekuma and they became friends.
Her stay with the aunt was short because she was sent back to Ofoase in the Eastern Region where her parents live.
In July 2019, she was brought back to Accra to stay with the complainant as a house help. On August 15, 2019, the victim left home to visit a friend. She said she had no money to return to South La.
Kweku Agyapong who is the suspect’s friend gave her some money to go away but she did not.
The suspect who lives in the same house took advantage of that and kept the victim in his room and had sexual intercourse with her on September 27 and October 1, 2019 respectively.
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The complainant Helen Dzubey is a trader residing with the victim at Adenta New Site. The 13-year-old victim is a hairdresser apprentice while the suspect James Azayome, 29 years is a commercial motorbike rider.
In May 2019, the victim who was living with the complainant’s elder sister, Mabel Mensah was brought to live with the complainant when Mabel was travelling to her hometown, Jasikan in the Oti Region.
Within the same period, she was brought to the complainant, the complainant sent her on an errand to go for a debt a customer owed her at Adenta New Site.
On her way, the suspect lured her and forcibly had sex with her.
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The 50-year-old Daniel Tettey Ashitey is a painter and the victim is a 12-year-old student. They both reside at Nungua in Accra.
On December 13, 2018, the victim attended nature’s call and on return met the accused person.
Ashitey dragged the victim into his room and after covering her mouth with a handkerchief had bouts of sex with the little girl.
The victim informed her grandmother which led to a formal report and his arrest.
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The complainant Florence Tweneboah, who is also the guardian of the victim is a trader and resides with the victim at East Legon Hills.
The accused person is a mason and lives at the same area. On June 18, 2019, the accused person who had gone out for breakfast and was returning home and spotted the victim when he reached the entrance of his wooden gate selling Bofloat.
He called the victim under the pretext of buying some and managed to pull her into his room and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.
Midway through the act, the victim was rescued by passersby who heard her cry for help.
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The complainant Ernestina Tettey is a Kenkey seller who lives at Glefe and a mother to the victim who is five years old. The accused Richard Diaba is a 27-year-old Corn Milling Operator and lives at Atomic, Dansoman.
The accused is in a relationship with the victim’s sister-in-law, Karley.
Karley who is married to the victim’s elder brother always sends the victim to collect money from the accused at his milling shop.
Anytime, the victim goes to collect money, the accused puts her on a mat and has sex with her. This continued until May 24, 2019, when he had sex with her again and the victim confided in her brother Nartey who informed their mother.
The accused was arrested and charged with the offence.
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The accused person Emmanuel Ocquaye, aka Chanchu, had anal sex with an eight-year-old boy at Newtown Nkansah Djan in Accra.
Ocquaye, who was an apprentice working at a hair dye manufacturing firm at Kotobabi, lived at Kotobabi Down.
The complainant is the father of the victim and they both reside at Nkansah Djan.
In April 2018, the victim, who was on school vacation, usually assisted his mother in selling her provisions in a shop.
The accused person, whose workplace was close to the victim’s mother’s shop, took advantage to befriend him and he began luring him with games on his mobile phone.
On one occasion he lured the victim into his shop and had anal sex with him.
The victim narrated the incident to his aunt, who caused the arrest of Ocquaye and a formal complaint was lodged.
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On October 9, last year, between 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the 12-year-old victim was sent by the complainant’s wife to buy pampers.
On her way home, the accused person held her mouth from behind, dragged her to an uncompleted building and forcibly had sex with her.
The accused person left the victim in the said uncompleted building after having his way with the victim.
The victim managed to go home and informed the complainant’s wife about her ordeal. The victim who was then bleeding was rushed to the Lakeside Police Station.
On October 10, 2019, the accused was arrested.
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In July 2019, the victim’s mother sent her to a seamstress to fix her uniform. The 23-year-old accused person Joseph Opata has a shop close to the complainant’s cousin who is a designer.
The accused person took advantage of that and established a friendship with the 15-year-old victim, who is a Junior High School Student.
The mother objected to the friendship but Opata persisted for about a year.
On one of her visits to the seamstress shop, the accused person took advantage and defiled her.
In September, of that same year, the victim informed her mother about the alleged abuse, leading to his arrest.
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The 28-year-old accused person Tettey Sewi is a mason and a resident of Abokobi in Accra while the 8-year-old girl is a kindergarten pupil.
In April 2018, the complainant who had separated from his wife left for a funeral at Abokobi-Boi.
At about 6:00 pm the same day, in a quest to look for her father, the two siblings went to the accused person to find out if he may have seen their father.
But he deliberately asked the girl’s brother to run an errand for him.
He then took off the victim’s pants and inserted his fingers into her vagina. He also removed his pants and laid on the little girl only to get up on seeing her brother approaching.
Both children did not tell the father about the encounter. Three weeks later, when the children’s mother visited them, she saw sores in the girl’s female organ.
She questioned the victim who narrated her ordeal.
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The complainant in this case is the mother of the victim aged 10 and resides at Assin Praeso while the accused is a driver who lives at Mataheko.
The victim was staying with her uncle Eric Donkoh in the same house as the accused person. In July 2018, the victim’s uncle travelled to Assin Praeso on a business trip and left the victim under the care of the accused person.
The accused person took advantage, had sexual intercourse with her on five different occasions on his uncle’s sofa and threatened to kill the victim if she dared tell anyone.
The victim visited the mother at Assin Praeso and complained of abdominal pains on August 9, 2018, at about 6:00 pm.
The complainant then asked her and the victim recounted what had happened.
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What the law says
Ghana’s criminal law recognises incest, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse and rape as sexual offences that attract firm punishment.
The Ghana Criminal Act 1960 (Act 29) makes these engagements criminal and punishable by imprisonment.
Section 98 of the Act restrictively defines rape as the carnal knowledge of a female of 16 years or above without her consent.
It goes on to state that “A person who commits rape commits a first-degree felony and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than twenty-five years.”
Most of these victims who report cases to the police usually want two things. For the accused to be arrested and punished.
Others simply want to forget the incident ever happened.
But the wheels of justice grind slowly for most of these victims, as they are forced to live with the incident for more than three years without obtaining justice.
Some have had the unfortunate situation of having to go on a legal tussle with the accused person in court, recounting painful memories.
In 2016, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded 273 defilement cases.
In 2015, 191 defilement cases were recorded. The figure represented an increase of 42.9%.
Rape cases also increased from 38 in 2015 to 56 in 2016, per the police report.
The issue of rape is a delicate subject, not just in Ghana but in other parts of the world.
Nigeria, for instance, organised a protest after a University student in Nigeria’s Benin city reported a rape case in June, this year.
Uwaila Vera Omozuwa was raped and found dead, lying half-naked in a pool of blood at the church where she had been a member of the choir.
Her death sparked a lot of outrage among the populace, with many calling for the head of the culprits.
But as dire as the situation may appear to be, some are also inclined to the convention that sexually assaulted victims are to be blamed for their ‘fortune’.
Some have argued that the victims even enjoyed the ride during the assault.
Cyril George Carstensen Lutterodt, popularly known as Counselor Lutterodt, argued that even though the victim may not be ready for the act, there is still some form of ‘enjoyment’.
“Anytime the act begins, you’re not ready for it but during the act, you consent to it,” Counselor Lutterodt said.
He further said research from most individual rape victims proves that in the end “they not only enjoy the act but end up having sexual relationships with the rapist.”
He, however, received a lot of backlash from the populace for that remark.
Campaign against Rape and Defilement
In November 2018, the Domestic Violence and Victim’s Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Health Ministry and Ghana Education Service, in collaboration with Rich Media Consult launched a campaign dubbed ‘I stand against Rape and Defilement’.
The campaign aimed at connecting all stakeholders to create awareness and work towards reducing cases of rape and defilement in the country.
At the launch, the National Coordinator of DOVVSU, Superintendent Evelyn Borbor, said the unit received an average of 20 cases of defilement and 10 rape cases across the country every month.
The figures, she said, were alarming, and attributed the problem to inadequate education on the subject.
“The lack of education is a major cause of the increment we are seeing. A lot of children do not know how to protect themselves against perpetrators of rape and defilement, and the fact that even when they become victims, most parents do not know the measures to take to ensure that they do not occur again,” she explained.
Making reference to statistics gathered by her outfit in 2017, which indicated that 790 cases of defilement and 307 cases of rape were reported that year, she said that the figures could go up in 2018 if immediate steps were not taken to combat the menace.
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Wow, just read the first three stories of the victims. Such an eye-opening, in most of these cases the victims did not do anything to entice these selfish people
Hmmmm and to think this is just a year