The Krisan Camp Police in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region are on a manhunt for a 54-year-old fisherman who is accused of defiling and impregnating a 14-year-old girl.
The suspect, Ndede Kojo who hails from Axim in the Nzema East Municipality is said to have admitted to the offence before bolting.
The incident is said to have occurred at Eikwe, a community in the Ellembelle district where the victim’s parents reside.
The suspect is said to be resident in Eikwe where he engages in fishing and has been living in the same house with the victim’s parents.
Whilst the victim’s parents were away for a funeral, the suspect hatched his plan. He lured the teenager into his room and sexually abused her.
Ellembelle District Social Welfare Officer, Jonas Kabutey tells Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of Connect FM’s Omanbapa Morning Show that it was the headmistress of the victim’s school who detected the pregnancy.
“The victim had been pregnant for five months. Because of her diminutive stature, her parents could not detect the pregnancy, it was her headmistress who saw the signs and alerted authorities. After detecting the pregnancy, they tried to settle the issue at home with the suspect but social welfare heard about it and took the case up. The victim has been affected psychologically, she is unable to perform in school again, so we have asked her father to report the case to the police for further investigation”, he indicated.
According to the father of the victim, Kwaku Annor, an official complaint has since been lodged with the police who are in a manhunt for the suspect.
“We gave him a room in our house to enable him to work since he is from a different community. We traveled for a funeral and left our child in the care of a sibling and that is how he decided to take advantage of the situation. Our daughter also could not tell us about the incident until her schooo’s headmistress came to inform us about the pregnancy. The suspect had threatened her not to reveal the sexual abuse to anyone and that is why she could not inform us. I have reported the case to the Krisan Police Station,” he indicated.
Mr. Jonas Kabutey, who is also a child protection advocate adds that the practice is becoming rampant in the district. “Parents should desist from settling such issues at home, whenever such incidences happen, it should be reported to the police. We are working on relocating the victim from the community to avoid stigmatization”, he added.
Story: Eric Nana Gyetuah/Connect FM