Bolgatanga District Court, presided over by Osman Abdul-Hakeem, has remanded five persons arrested in connection with the lynching of a woman, Ayimpoka Kinna, into police custody.
The five, Gbambil Soore, Kofi Pale, Mba Soore, Timble Soore and Samuel Soore, have been charged with murder and conspiracy to murder.
They will reappear before the court on June 28, 2017.
Earlier, the first accused, Gbambil Soore, was granted police enquiry bail on grounds of ill health on Sunday.
He subsequently appeared before the court, together with the others who had been on remand since Sunday.
Counsel for the accused, Lawyer Anthony Namoo, pleaded with the court to allow the first accused person to continue with his medication.
He also told the court that the arrest of the fifth accused person, Samuel Soore, was wrong because he was nowhere near the Pelungu chief’s palace on the day of the incident.
Despite the plea by the accused persons’ counsel, the first accused was added to the four and remanded to reappear on June 28, 2017.
The prosecutor, Inspector Gilbert Boaten Addea, told the court that the police granted the first accused bail on health grounds and once he was well enough to come to court and stand through the hearing, he should be remanded to avoid any interference in investigation.
Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Gilbert Boaten Addae said on 28th May, 2017, the deceased – Ayimpoka Kinna – aged 67, went to the Pelungu market in the Nabdam District to trade as she did on daily basis.
At about 5:00 pm on that same day, some persons accused her of being a witch and she was subsequently escorted to the Pelungu chief’s palace. There, the accused was interrogated by the chief and his elders.
According to the prosecutor, in the course of the interrogation, word went round the community, which attracted a large crowd to the palace to witness the interrogation. The crowd included two brothers of the deceased. Then after four hours of interrogation, the chief asked the two brothers to take her home.
The prosecutor said the two brothers pleaded with the chief to allow the woman to pass the night at the palace due to the behaviour of the furious crowd, who were bent on attacking her.
The prosecutor told the court that the chief said his palace is not a “witches camp,” and the accused persons whisked the old lady away to an unknown destination; and the following day, she was seen dead with multiple wounds.
Inspector Boaten Addae assured the court that investigations were still ongoing to apprehend other accomplices who are on the run.
The five persons were among a group of 65 persons who were arrested in a dawn swoop on Saturday and screened in connection with the lynching of the 67-year-old Ayimpoka Kinna.
From: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga