Court grants nurse rapist bail
A 28-year-old male nurse, Joshua Penni, standing trial before the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly raping a mentally challenged female patient, has been granted bail.
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He was ordered by the court, presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, to make a deposit of GH¢20,000 in order to make his bail effective.
The case was adjourned to July 11, 2016.
The accused, who works with a private health facility known as Valley View Psychiatric Clinic, located at Dzorwulu in Accra, has been charged with having carnal knowledge of a mental patient.
Penni is alleged to have raped the victim, who was a patient at the clinic on two occassions.
His plea was, however, not taken during his first appearance in court.
Bail application
Counsel for Penni, Mr Edwin Kusi-Appiah, yesterday pleaded with the court to admit the accused to bail because he had already served a year in custody before his appearance in court.
He explained that the police initially charged him with rape and, therefore, the case underwent committal proceedings at the magistrate court.
The committal proceedings, he said dragged on for about a year before the Attorney-General advised that the accused should be charged with having carnal knowledge of a mental patient and not rape.
“He has been in custody for more than a year and it is also not true that he had admitted his offence as claimed by the prosecution.
“A person who has not gone through trial should not be made to suffer such long imprisonment,’’ Mr Kusi-Appiah pleaded.
Facts
The facts as presented by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector of Police Mr Kofi Atimbire, were that on June 1, 2015, the victim was admitted to the Valley View Psychiatric Clinic, where Penni worked as a night nurse.
He said on June 18, 2016, at about 10p.m, the 29-year-old patient who had taken her medication was lying on her bed feeling drowsy when Penni entered her room.
“When Penni entered the room and realised that the patient was asleep and alone , he turned her over and had sexual intercourse with her,’’ he said.
The prosecutor added that Penni repeated the act the following day when he realised that the patient was once again alone.
“The patient informed her family about the incident, who in turn reported the case to the hospital management. The case was then reported to the police,’’ the prosecution said.