The body of a child believed to be 7 years of age has been discovered floating on a river at Mayera – Pokuase in the Ga North Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
Residents of the area and its environs have been gripped with fear as they suspect the child was killed for ritual purposes.
A bottle of schnapps and some concoctions contained in an earthen ware bowl were seen on the bank of the river where the body was found.
The body was discovered on Thursday evening, February 14, 2019, by some residents of the area.
Some of the residents who trooped to the scene to catch a glimpse of the body claimed that part of the body had been removed heightening their suspicion that it was a ritual killing.
Pokuase Police later visited the scene to convey the body to the Police Hospital morgue for autopsy.
The Amasaman Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Francis Yiribaare, when contacted, said the police got information that a dead body had been found afloat a river at Pokuase Mayera.
He said when a team of investigators got to the scene, they discovered that the body was in a decomposed state and therefore could not identify the sex of the child.
“The child, we suspect, could be either seven or eight years but residents could also not identify the body.”
Chief Superintendent Yiribaare indicated that, they were yet to establish how the body was dumped into the river.
He said police investigations have also revealed that residents of the area were not aware of any missing child in the neighbourhood in recent times.
With support from the Health, Environment and Sanitation Unit of the Ga North Municipal Assembly, the body was removed and deposited at the Police Hospital for autopsy.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey