General News of Thursday, 26 February 2004

Source: GNA

14-year-old escapes from Forced Marriage

Tema, Feb. 26, GNA - The Tema Police is investigating a case in which a 14 year-old Junior Secondary School pupil at Tema was being forced to marry a man in his late thirties in Lome.

According to the Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Inketia Yeboah the victim during the last Christmas holidays visited his elder sister, Madam Fati Malik in Lome, who arranged the marriage without her consent.

He said the victim fearing for her life pretended to be interested but escaped to Ghana with the money for the ceremony on the eve of the marriage ceremony. At the time that Fati had gone out to show the marriage cloth to her friends.

Back in Ghana the girl then rushed to the Police and lodged a complaint and when the mother was invited for investigation she disassociated herself from the crime.

The mother said while the victim was leaving Ghana for Lome she advised her that should she be forced into marriage there she should escape to Ghana.

The PRO said Police are currently interrogating two women; Humu Awudu aged 60 and Adisa Issifu, 35, grandmothers of the victim, who have come to Ghana from Lome to allegedly abduct the girl for the marriage.