Tema, Oct 04, GNA - The Tema Regional Office of the Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) recorded 1,890 cases from January to August out of which 128 men lodged complaints against their female partners.

Among some of the complaints were threats of death, child dispute, assault and pregnancy.

This was contained in a statement signed by Chief Inspector Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, Tema Regional Police Public Affairs Officer. It said DOVVSU anticipated a sharp rise in the number of men lodging complaints against their female partners by the end of the year, as the current number during the period out numbered that of 117 complaints recorded in the whole of 2006.

It said two sodomy cases involving 23-year-old man, Minkaila Issah and Michael Adu-Twum, 30, with four and nine year old boys as their victims were also recorded within the period and the courts sentenced them to 15 and 20 years respectively.

Giving the break down of the 1,890 cases recorded, the release said 811 were criminal while the remaining 1079 were non-maintenance of children (non-criminal) cases.

It includes 107 defilement, 20 rape and 54 abduction cases that occurred in the Municipality during the period under review with Ashaiman recording two-thirds of them. The criminal cases include assault, stealing, threat of deaths, abortion, offensive conducts, threat of harm and indecent exposure. Out of the 1,079 non-criminal cases, 124 were referred to the Family Tribunal, 230 to the Social Welfare, 15 to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and 710 cases were settled by the DOVVSU.

The statement cautioned against the settling of sexual offences out of court and that interfering in such cases amounted to committing a criminal offence.

It advised the public to report all sexual offences to the police and desist from interfering in criminal cases.