Cape Coast, GNA - A 19-year-old girl from Twifo-Praso who allegedly threw her one- week-old baby boy into a river at Twifo Praso, resulting in his drowning and death, and made a false report to the police that someone had kidnapped it, was on Monday remanded in custody by a Cape Coast magistrate court.

The plea of Joana Arthur, alias Maame Ama, who has been charged with murder, and who kept weeping during the proceedings, was not taken and she would be re-arraigned on Thursday, January 30.

Prosecuting, chief inspector Augustine Amonoo, told the court that last Tuesday at around 9 p.m, Joana reported to the police at Twifo Praso that she left her baby boy in the care of a woman to enable her attend to nature’s call at a public toilet, but the woman and her baby were nowhere to be found when she returned.

He said, based on this, the police, together with Joana searched frantically for the said woman and the baby, but failed to find them.

Chief inspector Amonoo said the following day, a Mr Kwabena Akakyi, Joana’s brother-in-law reported to the police that she had earlier threatened to dump the baby in the river “Akua Seduaa”, behind Twifo-Praso government hospital.

He said the police went to the bank of the river together with Mr Akakyi and other witnesses, where they retrieved the baby’s body after a search in the river.

He said the baby’s body was sent to the University of Cape Coast hospital for autopsy, which was yet to be issued.