A Bolgatanga Magistrate Court presided over by
Vivian Yamusah has remanded two brothers in prison custody for lynching a 75
year-old woman.
The two accused the woman of being a witch and they
believed he to be responsible for the deaths of their grandmother and mother.
They are to reappear in court on January 3, 2013.
According to the police, the two brothers, Felix
Nwohinyen, 22, and Dok Nwohinyen, 19, were charged with conspiracy to commit
crime, to wit murder, contrary to Section 23(1) and 46 of the Criminal Offense
Act of Ghana.
They were reported to the police to have lynched
the old woman at her residence at Zanlerigu in the Nabdam District on December
12, 2012, following a complaint by a relative of the killers named Abena who
said that on the day of the murder, the victim called out to her while she was
rushing to the market, but she ignored her.
The two, according the police, had always suspected
the deceased of being a witch and had been accusing her of being responsible
for the deaths of their grandmother and mother.
The police said the two admitted that after the
death of their grandmother, people started pointing fingers at the old lady,
calling her a witch, but that they themselves did not take the allegations
seriously.
Recently their mother died mysteriously after
having a serious quarrel with the deceased over a headscarf. After their
mother’s death, they started taking the rumours seriously.
The suspects told the police that they were
provoked when on December 12, Abena came home from the market to inform them
that the old woman had called to her. The brothers got angry and went to the
deceased residence at Zanlerigu, near Pelungu in the Nabdam district and
lynched her.
Bolgatanga Municipal Crime Officer Godson Letsyo,
who confirmed the story to the Daily Guide, said the old woman’s remains had
been deposited at the Bolgatanga Hospital Mortuary awaiting autopsy.
ASP Letsyo stated that no one had the right to beat
another person, not even when someone is suspected of being a witch or wizard.
"Police will deal severely with anyone who
takes the law into his or her hands. If people believe this issue of
witchcraft, they should find a better way of addressing issues that arises out
of that. Lynching and beating and banishing are not legal and accepted under
the laws of Ghana," he said.
From: Daily Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment