Takoradi, Nov. 15, GNA - A farmer was on Monday sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a Circuit Court in Takoradi for kidnapping a 19 year-old student allegedly for rituals. Jonas Acquah, aka Paa Kwesi, pleaded not guilty to the charge of kidnapping.

The court presided over by Mr Charles Nimako, however, found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly. The trial judge before handing down his sentence said the convict's behaviour was reprehensible and therefore needed a custodial sentence to serve as deterrent to others. The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police Lawrence Gbele, told the court that the complainant/witnesses were good Samaritans resident at Takoradi.

ASP Gbele said Acquah, who resided at Anagye, near Axim, on October 26, approached the victim at her school at Dawurampong and convinced her that she was being haunted spiritually by her family and colleagues in school. He had therefore come to rescue her. Acquah instructed the victim to comply with his instructions by following him to his residence where he made her change her school uniform and wear a different dress.

The prosecutor said Acquah and the victim boarded a vehicle from Dawurampong to Apam Junction and later to Takoradi. On arriving at Takoradi, near Top Ten, Acquah left the victim in the company of two other men, who were witnesses in the case, while he went to purchase handkerchief for the rituals. The prosecutor said the victim who was afraid narrated her story to the two men who arrested Acquah and handed him over to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit in Sekondi. 15 Nov. 10