She was just about some 10 metres away from her school gate that fateful Wednesday afternoon when, suddenly, she was sent sprawling on the ground with blood oozing freely from her head and face.
It turned out that the 10-year-old primary school girl (name withheld) had been hit in the head by a stray bullet which has, since, left her paralysed in one half of the body.
She had been caught up in a shootout between the police and a gang of armed robbers who the police was pursuing.
Five months after the bullet was removed from her skull, parents of the girl say, all efforts to get the police to take responsibility for the amount expended on the girl’s medical bills has proved futile.
Mr Asare, father of the girl, claims that the police had since abandoned them after making an initial donation of ?600 towards her medical bills.
“After I had made an initial payment in excess of over ?2,000 for the medical bills, I had to sell my taxi to raise some more money to settle the rest of my daughter’s medical bills.
“It was later that the police made a contribution of Ghc600 and since then I have not heard anything from them,” he said.
Mr Asare said all his numerous visits to the police for a proper conclusion of the matter and the appropriate compensation paid his daughter has proved futile.
How the incident happened
Giving the full facts of the case, Mr Asare said he was at work on June 7, 2016, when he received a call informing him that his daughter had allegedly been shot by the Police.
He said he rushed to the Mercy Lucy Clinic at Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra, where his daughter was said to have been rushed to for medical attention only to be told that she had been transferred to the 37 Military Hospital.
“At the 37 Military Hospital, the doctors told me that my daughter could be saved if only I had money to spend on all the medical procedures to get the bullet out of her head”.
He was then asked to go for a police report before they could continue with the treatment.
He said he returned the following day to the hospital in the company of a crime officer and one Chief Inspector Awuni.
Six days after the incident, the girl was finally taken to the theatre where the bullet was pulled out of her skull but with a lasting effect.
A medical report and X-ray films cited by the Weekend Finder confirmed that a bullet was pulled out of the girl’s forehead.
Girl out of school
According to Mr Asare, the daughter has not been able to return to school because of the disability she suffered after the incident.
“There are so many things she can’t do for herself now. Even when she is waking out of bed, she would have to drag herself on the floor to the wall for support before she can stand on her feet,” he said.
Documents cited by Weekend Finder indicate that the Attorney-General has been petitioned on the issue but there has not been any action taken yet.
The father of the child has, however, indicated his preparedness to head to court to seek justice for his daughter.
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