An Accra Circuit Court has ordered the founder and leader of the International God’s Way Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim, to provide a copy of the medical report proving he was sick for which reason he failed to appear in court on Friday January 13.

Obinim and two others have been charged for physical abuse, contrary to section 4 of the Domestic Violence and Victims’ Support Unit (DOVVSU) Act, but he failed to appear in court due to ill health, his lawyer said.

The victims, two teenagers, according to prosecutor Deputy Superintendent of Police George Amega, had also provided additional information on the assault case to the police and, therefore, prayed the court to adjourn the case in order for him to confirm from the investigator if the new information from the victims could add to the facts of the case.

It is recalled that Bishop Obinim was captured on video in 2016 flogging two teenagers in open church for having premarital sex resulting in pregnancy.

The teenagers, his adopted children, were restrained by two of Obinim’s aides in church as he flogged them. The two have been charged with abetment.

In August 2016, an aide to Obinim, Joseph Oppong Brenya, told the media that the shock of learning that his adopted 14-year-old daughter had been impregnated by his adopted 16-year-old son was what caused the man of God to lose control and lash the two teen lovers in front of the entire church.

Mr Brenya said the affair between the two adopted teenagers was revealed to the controversial man of God on the spur of the moment during one of his church services, thus, his spontaneous reaction.

“It happened during prophecy time…so when it happens that way, it’s very difficult controlling yourself because of hearing that your children who you love so much will attempt aborting a pregnancy, and every human being or father will act in the same manner,” Mr Oppong Brenya said.