Cape Coast, April 30, GNA- A 42-year old mason, Nana Yaw alias Wofa, who had sexual intercourse with an 11 year old girl at Essuekyir, a suburb of Cape Coast, was on Wednesday jailed 10 years in hard labour by a circuit court in Cape Coast.

Yaw pleaded guilty to defilement with an explanation that it was the girl who forced him to have sex with her, but the court did not accept his explanation and slammed the jail sentence on him. Chief inspector Hope Azasoo, prosecuting, told the court presided over by Mr Beresford Acquah that, on the night of April 24, at about 1900 hours, the girl who lives with her father and step-mother, returned from an errand, but there was no one home.

He said on her way to look for her step mother, Yaw called the girl with the pretext of sending her, but dragged her into his room, gagged and sexually abused her.

Chief inspector Azasoo said a witness, who saw the girl being dragged, reported the matter to the victim's step-mother, who together with some others, rushed to Yaw's house, but when he opened his door they did not find the girl in his room.

He said after a search they found the girl in a barrel covered with clothes and when she was pulled out, they detected that she was gagged with a piece of cloth and her hands tied.

The prosecutor said the matter was reported to the police and Yaw was arrested and he admitted the offence at the police station but said it was the girl who forced herself on him.

Passing judgment, Mr Acquah abhorred the behaviour of such men and said they needed to be taken away from society.