Vivian Anto (left) being sent to court
The 31-year-old woman who was arrested recently for allegedly cutting off her nine-year-old daughter’s toe, has been remanded into police custody.
The Bodi Circuit Court in the Western North Region remanded Vivian Anto to enable her go for a medical and psychiatric evaluation.
The accused is to reappear before the court on April 21, 2026.
This was after counsel for the accused, Ebenezer Abiaw, had argued that Vivian was battling a mental health condition and pleaded with the court to grant his client temporal release to enable her seek medical attention.
However, the prosecutor, Supt Isaac Ostin, opposed the request. He told the court that there is no evidence to support claims that the accused is mentally ill.
He further asserted that at the time of her arrest, Vivian Anto was able to give a statement to the police.
The prosecutor also noted that neither the family nor the defence had presented any medical records to substantiate the claim of mental illness, insisting that the accused should stand trial.
Meanwhile, Vivian remained silent while in court and did not answer questions posed by the judge, either verbally or through gestures.
To this end, the presiding judge, His Honour James Mensah Donkor, indicated that due to the accused’s lack of response, proceedings could not continue effectively.
He, therefore, ordered that the accused be remanded into police custody but must be taken to a psychiatric hospital for assessment.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi