A 45-year-old woman has been arrested for subjecting her three-year-old nephew to severe beatings, denying him food for days and leaving assault marks all over the boy’s body at Agbobloshie, in Accra.
The boy whose name has been withheld was said to have been maltreated by his aunt for allegedly begging for food from a neighbour.
The hungry boy was said to have been beaten with a stick and dragged on the floor while he cried for help with neighbours trying in vain to rescue him.
The suspect identified as Aku Korshie, according to neighbours, constantly abused the little boy over the least provocation.
Tears flowed freely from the eyes of some women including personnel of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ministries Police Station when the victim’s clothes were removed at the station.
The victim, who is the son of Aku’s elder brother, had several marks of assault including scars of healed wounds and fresh injuries on his body including the genital area.
The father of the little boy, Mr Ofoe Atsu who had been called to the police station following the arrest of his sister, could not hold back his tears too.
He joined other neighbours and onlookers who had been attracted to the scene to rain insults on his sister for subjecting his only son whom he had entrusted in her care to such an inhuman treatment.
Briefing journalists, the Accra Regional Coordinator of DOVVSU, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ms Phyllis Osei said the police received complaints about the incident from some concerned neighbours.
She said a team of DOVVSU personnel were dispatched to the scene leading to the arrest and detention of Aku.
Subsequently, she said, the victim who was seriously hurt as a result of the torture was sent to the Police Hospital in Accra for treatment.
She said during investigations, it was found that early January this year, Aku visited her hometown at Kajadornya near Ada in the Greater Accra Region and returned with the victim whom she claimed was her nephew.
The police found that Aku had consistently subjected the boy to both verbal and physical abuse without any cause.
A day before, her arrest, Aku was said to have assaulted the victim mercilessly for urinating during in his sleep.
“Aku, according to our information often denied the victim food resulting in the boy going out to beg for food from neighbours at times,” she said.
The Accra Regional DOVVSU Coordinator said neighbours told the police that they had confronted Aku on numerous occasions to stop assaulting the victim but most often she ended up fighting them.
On May 1, 2017, Ms Osei said the victim who was very hungry went to a co-tenant in the compound house to beg for food.
“Aku, upon seeing the boy with his sad face and his palms stretched out quickly rushed from her room and with a piece of wood dragged the boy while she hit him indiscriminately”, she said.
That was said to have compelled the co-tenant to report the matter to the police.
Aku has since been charged for denying the victim food, water and subjecting him to torture, cruelty and inhuman treatment.
“We are alarmed of the grievous harm meted out to the innocent toddler and I will appeal to the public to report any violent or maltreatment against any child to the police,” Ms Osei said.
Individuals can call the crime fighters numbers MTN or Vodafone on short code18555 to report such cases to the police.
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