The victim with wounds on his body
The Anyaa District Police Command has apprehended a 40-year-old father of two for brutally assaulting his 12-year-old disabled child.
The boy (name withheld) is deaf and dumb, and has a deep cut on his head, including his hands. Besides, there are old wounds around his body.
The suspect, Suleimana Yussif, who is currently in police custody, is yet to tell the police the reason for the assault.
According to the police, as a result of the assault, the victim has become traumatised, and has not been able to communicate through sign language to the police the reason behind the assault.
Some neighbours have described the father as a wicked man who always assaults the boy at the least provocation.
They told DAILY GUIDE that the mother of the boy left her matrimonial home two years ago and Suleimana Yusif remarried another woman.
Narrating the incident to the paper, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Afia Tenge said the suspect went into hiding after committing the offence, but was arrested on Friday, March 1, 2019.
She said police received information from a neighbour at Joma that a boy who is deaf and dumb had been brutally assaulted by the father and he was not being attended to.
When police proceeded to the house, they saw the stepmother of the boy taking him to a native doctor to be treated.
The boy was immediately rescued and taken to the police hospital for treatment.
Later, the stepmother of the victim told the police that on February 27, 2019, she went to town to shop and when she returned, she saw the boy with the deep cuts all over his body. The stepmother said she then took him to the native doctor in the area to treat the wounds.
According to the police PRO, upon hearing the news that the boy had been rescued by the police, the father went into hiding until Friday, March 1, 2019, when police accosted him in the evening.
The suspect is still in police custody assisting in investigations.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
lindatenyah@gmail.com