Crime & Punishment of Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Source: GNA

Woman raped on her way home from church

Ho, Sept. 30, GNA - A 24 year old woman, was assailed at gun point last Sunday night at the Ho Polytechnic campus, on her way home from Church. She was dragged into the bushes and raped by an unidentified man. Briefing the Ghana News Agency, the woman (name withheld) who had bloodshot eyes and bruises all over her body said her attacker first demanded her mobile phone and bag. She said after taking the items, he grabbed her by the shoulder, with a gun pointed at her head and pulled her down, tore her panties and gagged her with it, before tying her hands behind and raped her. The woman said during the act, she managed to reach the gun which was lying on the ground beside her and threw it away. She said after satisfying himself, the attacker demanded that she looked for the gun or else she would face further beatings. She said after a fruitless search the attacker left her bound and dashed away for a flashlight to search for the gun. The woman said when the attacker left, she managed to crawl naked to the Polytechnic campus where a security man on duty spotted her and rescued her. She said she led the security man and his colleagues into the bush to pick the gun after some search. Sources close to the Polytechnic security said, their men stayed around for sometime but the attacker did not show up, however the next morning indications were that somebody had uprooted shoots of groundnuts from the area apparently in search of something. Police in Ho confirmed the incident and said they had issued a medical form to the woman to attend hospital.