A 47-year-old man, John Ansah has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in hard labor by the Tarkwa circuit court for assaulting his 13-year-old daughter after accusing her of having sexual intercourse with men.
The convict, a biological father of the victim pleaded guilty to the charges of causing harm, indecent assault, and female genital mutilation.
Briefing the Court, presided over by Hathia Ama Manu, the Prosecutor, Police Superintendent, Juliana Essel-Dadzie narrated that the complainant was a supervisor at the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), and resident of Agona Nkwanta, while Ansah, was a charcoal producer, a single parent lived with his children including the victim at Kwapong located within the GREL plantation.
According to the Prosecutor, the convict, Ansah had been subjecting the victim to all kinds of abuses with the allegation that she was going after men and was having sexual intercourse with them.
She explained to the court that on Sunday, March 24, 2024, at about 20:00 hours Ansah tied the legs and hands of his daughter with a rope at their bamboo house and put two cutlasses into the fire, and pushed the same into the victim’s vagina in turns, and she sustained severe burns around her vagina and thighs.
The Prosecutor explained that the victim cried out for help while Ansah was torturing her until she became weak but was left tied up with the rope until the next day when she managed to free herself.
After the act, Ansah became frightened that the victim might sneak from the cottage and expose him, he, therefore, started monitoring her.
The prosecutor said on March 26, 2024, the victim managed to escape from the cottage and was rescued by a witness in the case, who rushed her to the Nsuaem Government Hospital where she was admitted for treatment.
The case was reported at the Nsuaem police station, and a medical form was issued to him on behalf of the victim for endorsement the same was returned to the police, where the complainant later led the police to arrest Ansah and handed him over to the Regional Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) to aid investigations.
By Daniel Bampoe