Brong-Ahafo Regional Branch of Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of Ghana Police Service recorded 936 cases in 2014.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Joseph Kwame Apoya, the Regional Coordinator of DOVVSU told the GNA on Wednesday in Sunyani that the figure for 2013 was 1,115.

He said the reduction of the number of cases was the result of intensive education by the Unit.

DSP Apoya said during the year under review, 609 cases were non-maintenance, spousal assault 88, non-acceptance of pregnancy 26, threat of harm 33, deprivation of properties 24, defilement 22 and rape three cases.

He said for some many years non-maintenance cases had always led in annual statistics of the Unit in the Region and appealed to the public that “taking care of children is not a privilege but a constitutional responsibility”.

DSP Apoya said “teenage parents are always unable to take good care of their babies since they were not prepared to give birth and therefore do not have interest in the children”.

He said divorce had been one of the major factors that prevented parents especially fathers from taking care of their children since they used the divorce as a punishment against the mothers.

DSP Apoyah attributed the situation to the fathers’ erroneous belief that the mothers were those who would benefit when the children grew up.

He urged parents to take care of their children, saying that was the only way to prevent them from becoming school drop-outs, street children and criminals in the society.