Policeman caged 12 years for defiling girl, 14
A policeman, General Corporal Emmanuel Duah, 46, who defiled a 14-year-old girl at a police station, was on Tuesday, March 26 jailed for 12 years in hard labour by the Ho Circuit Court.
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He pleaded not guilty. The court, presided over by Felix Datsomor, was told that the sex act took place on September 19, 2021, last year, at the Ave-Xavi Police Station in the Akatsi North District of the Volta Region.
Assistant State Attorney, Enyonam Letsa, who represented the Republic told the court that the mother of the Class Five pupil sent her to the newly built police station that day to harvest rainwater from the frontage of the building, for use at home.
The court heard that after a long while, the girl failed to return home, prompting her mother to go after her. On reaching the station, the girl’s mother found only the basin which was used to harvest the rainwater and not the girl, the prosecution said.
Later in the day, the victim was escorted home by a neighbour who found her in the bush. The victim told her mother that when she arrived at the police station, the policeman asked her to go and buy sachet water for him, but she refused and told him her mother warned her not to run errands for anyone.
The prosecution said, at that juncture, Duah took the basin from her, forcibly held her by the hand and covered her mouth, before dragging her into the room at the station, and forcibly having sex with her.
Subsequently, the policeman was arrested and later granted bail to assist the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in investigations into the matter, the court was further told.
The prosecution said Duah, also known as Bob Marley, in his caution statement, denied having sex with the girl, saying he only touched her breasts. The weighing card of the victim and the report of the medical examination carried out on her after the sex act were then filed in the case docket, the prosecution said.
The court was told police investigators also visited the crime scene where the victim led them into the empty room where the officer had sex with her. She also demonstrated to them how the policeman had sex with her, the prosecution added.
Giving judgment, the court said the prosecution established its case beyond doubt. The court noted that Duah was presumably a first-time offender. In his plea for mitigation, Duah said he had children, and was the only breadwinner of his family.
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