Three male minors, ages 15 to 17, have been taken into custody by the police on suspicion of defiling a female student at Aboabo Junior High School in the Akuapim North Municipality of the Eastern Region by gangs.
The accused were taken into custody by the police on January 27, 2024, after which they appeared twice before the Mampong Magistrate Court to be prosecuted for their alleged acts.
In Ghana, the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (29), prohibits any “natural or unnatural knowledge of a child less than sixteen years of age.” As a result, any person, regardless of gender, who engages in sexual intercourse with a child, with or without their consent, is liable for the crime.
Plan International Ghana’s “Be Smart, Learn, and Stay Protected” project coordinator, Mahmoud E.K. Nantomah, stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that one of the suspects was the victim’s classmate and the other accused were dropouts.
According to him, the victim, who lived with her 63-year-old grandfather, had gone to her friend, one of the suspects,’s house in the evening to borrow his book with her younger sister.
He claimed that she became bored and decided to go for a stroll after waiting for her friend, the suspect, to get home from getting takeout. While out and about, she happened to run across the suspects.
While they were walking back to the house with the two friends, Mr. Nantomah said the other two suspects made an attempt to speak with the victim, but she declined.
“But they had planned to assault her, so they lifted her and carried her to a nearby bush, where two of the boys raped her one after the other while one fingered her,” he said.
The perpetrators had firmly shut the victim’s lips while she struggled back, trying to create enough noise to attract attention and signal for aid.
But as she struggled, the victim was able to call for help, and she was saved by a couple who happened to be nearby. They immediately took her to the boys’ homes and then to the police station, where a report was made for the culprits’ arrest, according to Nantomah.
Mr. Nantomah stated that the organization was totally dedicated to making sure justice was served because of the victim’s and her sibling’s vulnerability in society as a result of their living circumstances.