On Tuesday, March 26, the Ho Circuit Court sentenced General Corporal Emmanuel Duah, 46, to 12 years in hard labor for defiling a 14-year-old girl inside a police station.
He pled not guilty. The court, presided over by Felix Datsomor, was informed that the sex act occurred last September 19, 2021, at the Ave-Xavi Police Station in the Volta Region’s Akatsi North District.
Enyonam Letsa, Assistant State Attorney for the Republic, told the court that the Class Five pupil’s mother sent her to the newly erected police station that day to collect rainwater from the building’s facade for use at home.
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The court heard that after a while, the child failed to come home, forcing her mother to pursue her. According to the prosecution, when the girl’s mother arrived at the station, she discovered only the basin used to catch rainwater, not the girl.
Later that day, the victim was led home by a neighbor who discovered her in the bush. The victim informed her mother that when she arrived at the police station, the officer requested her to go get sachet water for him, but she refused, telling him that her mother had advised her not to run errands for others.
The prosecution said that at that point, Duah seized the basin from her, grabbed her hand, and covered her mouth before taking her into the station room and forcing her to have sex with him.
The police officer was detained and later given bail to help the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) with the investigation, the court was informed.
According to the prosecution, Duah, also known as Bob Marley, denied having intercourse with the girl in his caution statement, claiming simply to have caressed her breasts. The victim’s weighing card and the report of her medical checkup following the sex act were then filed in the case docket, according to the prosecution.
The court was informed that police detectives also went to the crime scene, where the victim led them into the vacant room where the officer had sex with her. According to the prosecution, she also showed them how the cop had sex with her.
The court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The court recognized that Duah was likely a first-time offender. In his request for mitigation, Duah stated that he had children and was the sole breadwinner in his household.
