Crime & Punishment of Thursday, 12 April 2012

Source: Daily Guide

Golden Tulip waiter found dead

A man believed to be in his early 40s was found dead on Tuesday morning near Hydroform Estate on the Spintex Road with his wrist broken, part of his shirt torn and blood oozing from his right ear and mouth.

The deceased, whose name was given as Emmanuel Otopah, was said to be a waiter at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra and was on his way to work when he met his untimely death a few meters away from his house.

He was said to have been found by Good Samaritans who took the body from the road and placed it in front of the shop of a lady by name Effe.

When Daily Guide visited the scene, residents had trooped to the place to catch a glimpse of the deceased, with a woman who claimed to be the one who washed his clothes for him, together with other persons, weeping uncontrollably.

The deceased, according to some of the residents, hardly spoke to residents as he was always alone and was seen either going to work or indoors.

There is a strong suspicion that Emmanuel might have been knocked down by a hit and run vehicle since his mobile phone, an amount of money which he kept in his pocket, identity cards and his wristwatch which had stopped at 5:45a.m were all found on him.

Residents therefore believed the incident might have taken place around that time.

His death was said to have been reported to the Sakumono Police Station and also to the Airport Police Station at about 6:00a.m. Personnel from the Airport Police Station responded immediately but they could not do anything because the area was not under their jurisdiction.

It took personnel from the Sakumono Police Station over three hours to get to the scene because of logistical problems.

Ebenezer Amo, a brother of the deceased, said that he had a call that his brother had been found dead on the road and quickly rushed there.

Mr. Amo, who could not tell what might have caused the death of his brother, said that his brother was on his way to work when he met his untimely death. When the owner of the shop, Madam Effe, was interviewed by Daily Guide, she said that around 6:00a.m, she was getting ready to open the shop when she saw that a lot of people had gathered in front of her shop.

She therefore came out to see what was going only to see the deceased lying in front of her shop. The body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital for autopsy.