Asamankese (E/R), Sept 23, GNA - A 50-year-old farmer, Francis Kwasi Basare who kept a 13-year-old girl in his room for 13 days and had daily bouts of sexual intercourse with her, has been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in hard labour by the Asamankese Circuit Court. He pleaded not guilty.

In sentencing him the judge, Mr S. S. Appiah, said Basare had imprisoned his victim and kept her as a sexual slave. This, he said, was a reprehensible act by a man old enough to be her grandfather, especially when he used duress and threat of death from a fetish he kept in his room if she should leave the room without being asked to do so.

Mr Appiah described Basare as a danger to society who deserves no mercy but a long custodial sentence.

The prosecutor, Detective Police Inspector J.F. Idan, said on August 29 Basare met the girl on the way from the farm and gave her 5,000 cedis to pay him a visit at his cottage near Adjonklobi village where the girl lived with her parents.

The girl left her parents unceremoniously to visit Basare that evening and on arrival the accused pulled her into his room and had sexual intercourse with her.

But instead of allowing her to go home he locked his victim up until the following day when he left for the farm. The girl's father and the villagers including Basare mounted a fruitless search for the girl.

The father caused a gong-gong to be beaten in the village and other surrounding villages.

On September 12 while the girl's father was returning home from his akpeteshie distillery and was walking along a path near the cottage of Basare he overheard a voice similar to that of his daughter in the room of the accused.

He listened carefully for a while until he was certain that it was that of his daughter and the following day he lodged a complaint with the Police.