The Krisan Camp Police in the Ellembelle district of the Western region are on a manhunt for a 54-year-old fisherman who has been accused of defiling a 14-year-old girl and impregnating her.
The suspect, Kojo Ndede, who hails from Axim in the Nzema East municipality is said to have admitted to the offence before bolting.
The incident is said to have occurred at Eikwe, a community in the Ellembelle district where the victim’s parents reside.
The suspect is said to have been domiciled in Eikwe for his fishing expedition and has since been living in the same house with the victim’s parents.
Whilst the victim’s parents were away for a funeral, the suspect decided to hatch his plan. He lured the teenager into his room and sexually abused her.
Ellembelle District Social Welfare Officer, Jonas Kabutey tells Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of Connect FM’s
“The victim had been pregnant for five months. Because of her diminutive stature, her parents could not detect the pregnancy, it was her headmistress who saw the signs and alerted authorities. After detecting the pregnancy, they tried to settle the issue at home with the suspect but social welfare heard about it and took the case up. The victim has been affected psychologically, she is unable to perform in school again so we have asked her father to report the case to the police for further investigation,” he indicated.
According to the father of the victim, Kwaku Annor, an official complaint has since been lodged with the police who are on a manhunt for the suspect.
“We gave him a room in our house to enable him to work since he is from a different community. We traveled for a funeral and left our child in the care of a sibling and that is how he decided to take advantage of the situation. Our daughter also could not tell us about the incident until her headmistress came to inform us about the pregnancy. The suspect had threatened her not to reveal the sexual abuse to anyone and that is why she could not inform us. I have reported the case to the Krisan Police Station,” he narrated.
Jonas Kabutey, who is also a child protection advocate adds that the practice is becoming rampant in the district.
“Parents should desist from settling such issues at home. Whenever such incidences happen, it should be reported to the police. We are working on relocating the victim from the community to avoid stigmatisation,” he added.
By Eric Nana Gyetuah|Connect FM|Takoradi
