Police arrest couple for inflicting wounds on son
The couple also constantly assaulted the boy who is deaf and dumb, leaving him with wounds on the body.
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As a result of the maltreatment, Yusif is unable to eat, while he consistently groans, a sign that he was in pain.
The father of the victim, Suleiman Yusif, an electrician, is said to have admitted to assaulting his son because he was stubborn.
Yusif’s stepmother, whose identity the police has withheld, is said to have sent him to a herbalist with an alibi that the boy sustained the injuries after a wall collapsed on him.
A ‘good Samaritan’ who saw the boy in pain while he was being taken to the herbalist on one occasion for treatment called the police, leading to the arrest of the stepmother.
Suleiman, who went into hiding after the report, was arrested four days after the police launched a manhunt for him.
Confirmation
The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mrs Effia Tenge, confirmed the arrest to the Daily Graphic and explained that the police received information on February 27, 2019 about the condition of the boy.
She said police personnel who were sent to Joma found Yusif with marks of assault in the form of scars and wounds all over his body.
“There was a deep cut on the back of the boy’s head and it is suspected to have been inflicted with a machete. Information available to the police indicates that the boy was beaten by the father,” Mrs Tenge said.
Stepmother
Mrs Tenge said Suleiman, who went into hiding after allegedly assaulting Yusif, told the police when he was arrested that he disciplined his son for disobeying orders.
The stepmother, who is being held for abetment, is said to have told the police that she returned home to find the boy crying with wounds all over his body.
She claimed that she took the boy to the herbalist and told him that the wounds were sustained after a concrete cement wall fell on him.
Mrs Tenge said the marks found on Yusif gave an indication of consistent assault on him over a period of time.
Mrs Tenge said marks of assault were also found on the stepmother of the victim, an indication that she could also have suffered abuse from her husband.
Meanwhile, the boy is receiving treatment at the hospital, while medical investigations are ongoing to ascertain the cause of the deep cuts.