The alleged mortuary man
The Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has begun investigations into a video footage showing the bodies of the late dancehall artiste Ebony Reigns and her friend Franky Kuri in a mortuary.
In the 50-second video, an elderly man, suspected to be a mortuary attendant, is seen touching and ‘examining’ the bodies of two ladies suspected to be those of Ebony Reigns and Franky Kuri, thus, showing their bruises and nudity and talking to an unseen person who might be videoing the act.
The director in-charge of the Cyber Crime Unit, Chief Superintendent Dr Gustav Herbert Yankson, in an interview with NEWS-ONE, explained that the police were yet to get the location of the mortuary and the identities of those behind the act.
The video that has since gone viral on social media has been condemned by the public, especially some stakeholders in the entertainment industry.
The late musician’s manager, Ricky Nana Agyemang aka Bullet, yesterday accused the authority of the Bechem Hospital morgue of being behind the video.
He said the family and management of Ebony would take “serious” action against the perpetrators of the act.
Speaking to Starr News, Bullet said, “We paid for them to put her in the morgue; we didn’t pay for them to show her nakedness to the world. This is too much for us now, what is wrong with Ghana as a nation? It’s very sad and disheartening.
“We are going to use Ebony’s case right now to show people that there are laws in this country. We are going to take serious action against the hospital and the people involved.”
Dr Yankson claimed that even though the police were yet to receive a formal complaint from the family of the two deceased persons about the incident, they had launched a manhunt for the two men who videoed the late dancehall artiste and her friend in the morgue.
“Detectives have been asked to contact the family and some close acquaintances of the deceased persons to help with information that could help the police identify the said morgue the incident occurred and the identities of the men involved,” he revealed.
Chief Superintendent Dr Gustav Yankson asserted, “We are not arresting the men for taking shots of the dead bodies, but circulating the nudity of a dead body brought for preservation in that manner is an offence.”
He averred that it is only the mortuary attendant who can help the police identify those who took the video and circulated it.
“Section 281 of the Criminal Offence Act talks about offences related to obscenity and so far as you are showing the nude pictures of somebody; it is related to obscenity and it’s a crime and there is the need for us to take action.The law particularly says that even if you have in your possession nude pictures, it is also an offence to circulate them,” he underscored.
However, Nana Opoku Kwarteng, the late Ebony’s father, has also disclosed his intention to take legal action against the authorities of the Bechem Hospital.
“I have been told (but) I haven’t seen that. I hate to watch it. Trust me…you and I know it’s too bad a thing to do and therefore we are going to take them on…,” Nana Opoku Kwarteng told Hitz FM.
Ebony Reigns, born Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng, was killed in a gory accident on the Sunyani-Kumasi highway after paying a visit to her mother on February 8. Her childhood friend and assistant, Franky Kuri, and their bodyguard also did not survive the crash.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
lindatenyah@gmail.com