Police search for leaders of mob who nearly lynched woman
The Akwatia Police have mounted an intensive search for the ringleaders of a mob which attempted to lynch a 22-year-old woman, Elizabeth Kpodo, for allegedly setting her rival ablaze.
Advertisement
Kpodo, who fell into a coma, is currently on admission at the St Dominic Hospital at Akwatia, together with a policeman who was seriously injured by the mob for attempting to save the woman.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at Akwatia yesterday, the Akwatia District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Francis Aboagye, said an illegal miner (galamsey operator) at Akyem Kusi, who was being sought for by the police, befriended Kpodo for some time but later broke up with her.
He said the man, whose name was being withheld for security reasons, later befriended 26-year-old Monica Owusu, a native of Akyem Takorase, near Kade.
Petrol
According to ASP Aboagye, after the galamsey operator had gone to work early last Tuesday morning, Kpodo laid ambush and when Owusu came out of her boyfriend’s bedroom at Akyem Kusi, Kpodo poured petrol on her and lit a match to burn her alive.
When the youth of Takorase heard that a woman from their town had been burnt to death, they mobilised themselves, rushed to Kusi and assaulted Kpodo until she became unconscious.
The district commander stated that when Kpodo became unconscious, the mob thought she was dead and so they immediately fled the scene to avoid being arrested by the police.
He said before then, the mob had attacked a few policemen at Takorase who had wanted to save the victim.
Policeman
In the process, one of the policemen was seriously injured. ASP Aboagye said when the Akwatia Police heard of the incident, they rushed to the scene to convey the injured policeman and Kpodo to the Akwatia St Dominic Hospital where they were admitted for treatment.
He said Owusu’s charred body had been deposited at the morgue of the same hospital pending autopsy.
