Crime & Punishment of Sunday, 8 January 2012

Source: GNA

Human parts dealers remanded into prison custody

Half Assini (W/R), Dec. 7, GNA - The Half Assini District Magistrate Court has remanded four persons including a woman in prison custody when they made their second appearance at the court for possessing human skeletons.

They are Charles Asante, 30, Ebenezer Osei Yaw, 26, Kwesi Dickson, 23, all from Asankrangwa and Juliet Nyameke from Adusuazo near Half Assini.

Their pleas were not taken and the court ordered them to re-appear on January 13 2012.

The court presided over by Mr Hans Kofi Kpogo remanded them in one month prison custody when they made their first appearance in December 2011.

Prosecuting Police Chief Inspector Paul Anaman told the court that the three of the suspects, Asante, Yaw and Dickson were suspected to the brain behind the mysterious death of a refuse collector at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region early last year but were not arrested.

He said in October 2011, Asante, Yaw and a colleague now at large went to Nkawkaw, exhumed the body, secretly and brought the skeleton to Asankrangwa.

The prosecution said Madam Nyameke who hails from Nzema assured them of a ready market of the skeleton in her area.

He said the woman started bargaining for the price of the skeleton through telephone numbers of people and the final one she had, happened to be a top police officer at half Assini that was not known to her.

He said the seller and the buyer agreed upon a price of GH?60,000.

The prosecution said the accused persons on Dec. 10 brought the skeleton to Half Assini and lodged at the Capitan Williams hotel as directed by the buyer who had already alerted the police, hence their arrest.