Crime & Punishment of Wednesday, 8 December 2004

Source: GNA

Court remands trader for murder

Kumasi, Dec 8, GNA - A circuit court in Kumasi has remanded a trader at the Race Course for murder while Mary Yeboah, 19, also a trader and a lover of the trader believed to be an accomplice was granted a 100 million cedis bail with a surety to be justified. Kwadwo Kwarteng and Mary Yeboah have been charged with murder and abetment of crime respectively. They have both pleaded not guilty and will re-appear on December 22.

Police Chief Inspector John Afful told the court presided over by Mr Ernest Yao Obimpeh that there was a fierce rivalry between Akosua Konzonle and Mary Yeboah as to which one of them was Kwarteng's real concubine.

He said so on September 3, this year when Mary visited Kwarteng, she met Konzonle who warned her not to visit Kwarteng since their relationship had broken up.

Chief Inspector Afful said Mary did not take kindly to what Konzonle told her and so a quarrel ensued between the two rivals and in the process Mary threatened to "show" both Konzonle and Kwarteng. He said the following day at about 2100 hours while Konzonle was taking her bath, the kiosk in which she had laid her child was set ablaze by an unidentified person.

Chief Inspector Afful said Kwarteng who was returning home saw the kiosk in flames and so he rushed into it and rescued the child and rushed it to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) but was pronounced dead on arrival.

He said upon being told that the child was dead, Kwarteng dumped it at the Hospital and ran away but he was arrested at his hide out. Chief Inspector Afful said during interrogation, Kwarteng alleged that he saw Mary running away from the scene of the fire.