Josephine Panyin Mensah
Josephine Panyin Mensah

Takoradi: Missing and found woman was not pregnant - Regional Minister

There has been a twist to the issue of the 28-year-old pregnant woman who got missing last week in Takoradi and was found in Axim on Tuesday.

Josephine Panyin Mensah was reported to be about nine months pregnant.

But the Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah has disclosed that a preliminary observation by a doctor on her has shown that she was not pregnant.

Subsequently, the Regional Minister has asked the police to investigate the woman, husband and the mother.

The Regional Minister was speaking in a radio interview with Accra based Angel FM, monitored by Graphic Online on Wednesday morning [September 22].

What the Minister said

I want to place on record that the information and report given to me by the security agencies indicates that the woman, "she is not pregnant."

The doctor who has been attending to her in Axim since she was found on Tuesday has said she was not pregnant.

Nobody has beaten her, Mr Darko-Mensah who was speaking in the Twi language said.

He urged the public to disregard the issue of a pregnant woman being kidnapped and she being beaten and molested by her suspected kidnappers.

He said the dirt seen on her in the picture in circulation was because she was found sleeping on the bare ground.

Police investigations

He said he has asked the police to investigate her [Josephine] and the husband as the "next step of the process" for weirdly creating the impression and disorganise the public.

What happened?

Related: Takoradi suspected kidnapper of missing pregnant woman demand ransom

Josephine Panyin Mensah, said to be 28-years-old and was said to be nine months pregnant, reportedly went missing after going for a routine dawn walk on Thursday, September 16, 2021.

She is a resident of Takoradi in the Western Region.

Her husband, Paul Simmons reported the incident to the police and later said his mother-in-law had received a phone call from a suspected kidnapper demanding a ransom.

The police in Takoradi started investigations into the circumstances that led to the missing of the said pregnant woman.

Josephine, according to the husband left home that Thursday morning around 5 am for a routine dawn walk and did not return.

She was last seen at Amoono road towards Paa Grant Roundabout in Takoradi in the Western Region.

Missing pregnant woman found without pregnancy

On Tuesday, September 21, Josephine was found around Axim in the Western Region.

Even though she was said to be nursing a near term pregnancy, she was without the pregnancy or the baby when she was discovered near a church building in Axim.

A senior brother of Josephine, Alex Essien, told Graphic Online her sister was unable to speak when she was discovered. All she could do was to motion for a piece of paper and pen on which she scribbled her brother's contact number.

According to Essien, Josephine was said to be crying upon her discovery but was unable to tell what had transpired or where she had been.

The police are yet to comment on the incident but Josephine is being attended to at the Axim Government Hospital.

Husband's interview with Citi FM

In a separate radio interview on Accra based Citi FM on Wednesday morning monitored by Graphic Online, the husband, Paul Simmons said he never joined her to the hospital for ante-natal care.

He explained that his work schedule was such that he was always on a night shift.

So when she was nearing her term, he decided that she should go and live with the mother who could be readily available in case she went into labour at night.

He said as far as he was concerned, she was due to deliver and that is why he asked that she should go and live with the mother.

Writer's email: [email protected] 

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