FARMER GETS 20 YEARS FOR DEFILEMENT (MIRROR, PAGE 22, SAT MAY 1, 2010)

From Della Russel Ocloo, Ashaiman

A 22-year-old farmer, Nartey Adade, has been sentenced to a 20- year jail term by the Ashaiman Circuit Court presided over by Justice Seyram Yao Azumah for defiling a 15 year-old deaf and dumb girl.
Nartey was alleged to have lured the victim into a nearby bush at Abonya, near Dodowa when the victim went to attend to the call of nature.
Prosecuting the case, Inspector Diana Sedame told the court that the victim was sent to a prayer camp at Abonya for healing, while the accused was a farmer in the community.
Ms Sedame said on February 3, 2010, the victim left the camp to attend to the call of nature but failed to return many hours after she sought permission to visit the facility, necessitating the deployment of a search party.
The prosecutor said the search party after combing the area for hours saw the victim lying in a nearby bush close to the latrine.She bleed profusely from her private part when she was found.
A complaint was therefore, lodged at the Dodowa police, who issued her a medical form after it was detected that she had been defiled.
The accused however, bolted from the community when news of the victim’s plight hit the town. Ms Sedame said the accused however, resurfaced soon after a gong-gong was beaten for the perpetrator of the act to come out.
He pleaded with the victim’s family for an amicable settlement of the case, offering to pay for the hospital expenses. He, however, went into hiding again when he got to know that the case was pending before the police who were investigating.
Nartey was arrested on March 24, 2010 from his hideout at Asutsuare by the community’s watchdog committee who saw him sleeping in a nearby bush close to three weeks and handed him over to the Dodowa branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) after he confessed and pleaded with the team for his release.
He admitted the offence in his caution statement and pleaded for leniency.
Mr Azumah, passing judgement, expressed regret at the high incidence of defilement and rape cases that continually flood the court on a daily basis, saying,“so long as men like you cannot keep your zipper closed to young girls, the court would also apply stringent measures to deter others from such heinous and inhumane acts”.