Tarkwa: A Tarkwa Circuit Court has sentenced a 30-year-old farmer, Kwasi Zachari, also known as Halidu, to 20 years' imprisonment with hard labor for defiling a 13-year-old girl who is deaf and dumb. He pleaded guilty to the charge of defilement and was convicted on his own plea by the court presided over by Mrs. Hathia Ama Manu.
According to Ghana News Agency, the prosecution, led by Police Chief Inspector Abraham Ayitey, detailed that the complainant, a trader and the victim's mother, resides at Wassa Bawdie Adonnoi in the Wassa Amenfi East Municipality with the victim and Zachari. On December 17, 2024, at around 7:30 a.m., the complainant left the victim at home to attend a funeral service in the community.
Inspector Ayitey explained that Zachari, while returning from his landlord's house, encountered the victim and engaged her in conversation using sign language. He subsequently lured her to an abandoned sawmill shop on the town's outskirts and had sexual intercourse with her. After the act, Zachari gave the victim GHS1.50 and escorted her back home.
The court was informed that two community children, aged between five and six years, later informed the complainant that they had seen the victim following Zachari towards the sawmill shop. Alarmed, the complainant left the funeral to search for her daughter. Assisted by her sister and the two children, the complainant confronted Zachari when they found him. The children identified Zachari as the person they had seen with the victim.
Upon confrontation, Zachari confessed to having had sex with the victim in the abandoned sawmill shop. The complainant and her sister apprehended Zachari and took him to the Bawdie Police Station to report the incident. Zachari was re-arrested and detained to assist with investigations. A police medical report form was issued for the complainant to take the victim to the hospital for examination, treatment, and a report.
