Tabloid News of Thursday, 26 September 2002

Source: Accra Mail

Woman Feigns Madness After Butchering Hubby

A thirty-five year old seamstress, Juliet Paku, who allegedly butchered her husband at Ashaley Botwe, feigned madness when she made her second appearance at the Madina Community Tribunal on Tuesday.

Juliet, whose plea was not taken is charged with attempted murder.

The accused, who was escorted by the police, sat in the courtroom very quietly with a cloth around her chest but started behaving strangely and shouting "I did not kill him, I did not kill" even though her case had not been called.

The tribunal chaired by Mrs Ivy Heward Mills ordered that she should be sent to a cell in the premises to be brought later.

Mr Fidelis Paku, 38, an accounts clerk at Pill Box Pharmacy in Accra, died on September 23, 10 days after his admission at the Military Hospital after the accused person had allegedly slashed him several times.

When the tribunal called her case and asked Juliet why she took the action, she replied "the whole incident occurred to me as madness".

The tribunal remanded her into prison custody to reappear on October 1.

Meanwhile relatives of the deceased who were at the court rained insults on the accused, saying she was a "wicked woman who has killed our relative".

Prosecution said with the death of Fidelis, the accused would now be charged with murder whiles a duplicate docket would be forwarded to the Attorney General's Office for advice.

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Margaret Awuni told the tribunal that the accused and her husband had been married for nine years without a child.

The prosecution said on September 14, at about midnight, a co-tenant of the couple heard Mr Paku and accused quarrelling in their room and went to enquire but the accused who had come out of the room informed the co-tenant that armed robbers had attacked them.

Immediately the co-tenant raised an alarm, which attracted other tenants to the scene.

According to the prosecution when the tenants attempted to enter the couple's room accused prevented them but they forced the door open and found Mr Paku lying in a pool of blood with deep wounds on his head, back and thigh. Juliet then bolted.

The tenants rushed Mr Paku to the hospital and a complaint was lodged at the Madina Police Station.

The Police arrested the accused at Ashaley Botwe where she was alleged to have been treating herself.