DUAYAW-NKWANTA, Ghana, - A deacon of the Yamfo Church of Pentecost, Mr Kwabena Bonsu, who allegedly beheaded his wife at Yamfo in the early hours of Sunday, says he committed the crime without a cause and asked God for forgiveness.

Bonsu, 52, told the Ghana News Agency at the St. John of God Catholic Hospital at Duayaw-Nkwanta where he is on admission: "I did it without a cause". He confessed: "Lord, I have sinned, forgive me".

Bonsu, farmer, whose neck has been bandaged for attempted suicide, said he did not know what made him kill his wife, Anna Frimpomaa Bonsu, 48, who hails from Fiapre, near Sunyani.

The deacon, who hails from Yamfo, said they had 10 children during their 25 years of marriage but only two daughters were alive. The eldest, Yaa Tawiah, is about 20 years while Eunice Bonsu, 15, is now in JSS One.

Dr. Emmanuel Sowah, Senior Medical Officer, said Bonsu reported at the hospital around 7 a.m. with lacerations at the upper border of the thyroid cartilage (Adam's apple) and was treated.

Meanwhile, a niece of Bonsu, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that for sometime now Anna had refused to have any sexual relations with her husband. She said Bonsu, as a result, lodged a complaint with the church elders on Thursday over the matter.

The niece said on Saturday the woman went to a funeral at Sasuanso, near Yamfo, without the consent of her husband. On her return, Anna was said to have teased the man that somebody gave her a handkerchief at the funeral.

In spite of that, she said Mrs Bonsu cooked for them to eat, bathed together with the husband and went to bed. "It was therefore surprising that we found her murdered body on Sunday morning," she added.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Emmanuel Appiah, District Police Commander in charge of Duayaw-Nkwanta, told the GNA that the case is under investigation.