Advertisement

Ms. Rocklyn Antonio, Executive Director, Transform Rural Ghana Initiative, presenting a set of cooking utensils to Madam Odi.

NGO donates to abused woman

A 75-year-old woman, Madam Janet Odi, has received support from a rural development non -governmental organisation Transform Rural Ghana Initiative (TRuGI).

The old lady was accused of witchcraft and abused by her town's youth in Dawu Sanfo in the Akuapim North municipality in the Eastern Region.

Items she received included a  bucket, cutleries, plates, cooking utensils, assorted wax prints and head scarves, bags of rice, cooking oil, toiletries, bedsheets, among other items totalling about GH¢2,000 and an undisclosed amount of money.

Madam Odi suffered brutalities following accusations levelled against her by a fetish priest in her community that she had killed her younger brother who died after a short illness at age 68, somewhere last year.

She was stripped naked and subjected to severe beatings. Some herbs which caused severe itches were smeared all over her body including her private parts causing her partial blindness afterwards.

Arson attack

She further suffered arson attack losing her home and farm to the blaze.

The farm had several crops, tubers and oil palm. After rendering her homeless, she was ostracised from the village. 

She became a squatter with her daughter at one of the defunct Koforidua railways station's abandoned buildings.

However, Madam Odi returned to the community after the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, Mr. Dan Botwe had a new building put up for her through the initiative of Ms. Bertha Badu-Agyei, a senior reporter of the Ghana News Agency (GNA’s) Koforidua office, who broke the story.

The MP further gave money for the treatment of her eyes.

NGO

TRuGI, with one of its objectives to support women and children first learnt of the story from a GNA report and followed up to offer its support.

During the donation at her residence, at Dawu Sanfo, the Executive Director of TRuGI, Ms. Rocklyn Antonio, called on elders of the community to institute a programme to educate the townspeople on the repercussions of such brutalities and to ensure that culprits did not go unpunished. That according to her would deter others from putting the law into their own hands. 

She advised the youth not to engage in such acts which could end them in jail and destroy their future.

Advice to community

Ms. Antonio highly commended the GNA for such a noble act which she noted saved the life of the woman who could have died from her situation.

On behalf of the management of TRUGI, Ms Antonio, assured Madam Odi of their continuous support to make life bearable for her.

Mr Edmund Quaynor, the Eastern Regional Manager of the GNA, urged the community leaders to ensure that such unfortunate incidents did not happen again. 

He added that other persons could be victims too if nothing was done to stop the trend.

He reiterated the need for community leaders to  sanction perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to the towns people.

He congratulated, Ms Badu-Agyei, for championing the course of the woman which had led to her return to the village and expressed gratitude to TRuGI for its kind gesture.  

Madam Odi, who was utterly dumbfounded at the gesture broke into tears.

She thanked TRuGI, GNA and the MP for the area, for not only supporting the rebuilding of her house and her upkeep, but for personally visiting her in the village.

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |