Crime & Punishment of Thursday, 19 September 2013

Source: Daily Guide

Mason arrested for defilement

A 20-year-old mason, Foofo Kofi Togbuiawu, has been put before an Accra Circuit for allegedly defiling two girls aged 12 and 15.

The accused person attended a marriage ceremony during which he made the victims to lie on a mat with their heads on a broom, which he had sprinkled water on.

He then informed them that someone was planning to kill one of them.

The accused person was arraigned before a court presided over by Sedina Agbemava and charged with two counts of defilement.

He has been remanded into police custody by the court after he pleaded not guilty.

The case has been adjourned to October 17, 2013.

DSP Veronica Rexy Ofei, the prosecuting officer, who narrated the facts of the case to the court, said the complainant is the step-father of the 12-year-old victim, adding that the second victim is a student of Sunbeam International School at Kokrobite.

She said the accused person is a 20-year-old mason who lives at Accra Newtown and a family friend of the first victim’s family.

According to her, the accused person attended a marriage ceremony where he went to the house of the first victim person for kenkey and asked the two victims to follow him to his friend’s house for the bowl.

Furthermore, she stated that when the victims got to his room, he spread a mat on the floor, put a broom on it and quickly sprinkled water on the broom.

He subsequently told the victims to lie on it, which they complied.

The prosecutor also noted that the accused person asked which of them had a friend called Abigail, to which the first victim responded positively.

In addition, she said the accused person asked whether she would be happy if that friend of hers killed her to which she answered in the negative.

Explaining further, the police officer observed that the accused person then asked the victims to position themselves and take off their panties for him to defile them so that no evil would befall them.

The DSP said the mason first tried penetrating the younger one for sometime but could not.

In addition, she said he moved to the elder victim and defiled her and after the act told them that they would soon be rich, but warned them not to disclose their ordeal to anyone.

Explaining further, she stated that the victims went home and informed their grandmother and the case was reported to the Odokor Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), which led to the arrest of the accused person.

The accused person was arraigned before court after police investigations.