Pakyi (A/R), Oct. 15, GNA – Residents of Pakyi in the Amansie West District of Ashanti Region have urged government to provide the area with a Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) to ensure justice for victims of domestic violence in the district.
They said the absence of the Unit of the Ghana Police Service in the area and its environs was obstructing justice, as complainants had to travel all the way to Asokwa Divisional Command in Kumasi, before their cases could be handled.
Residents of the area, most of whom are peasant farmers, told the Ghana News Agency in an Interview that because they could not afford to send their cases to Asokwa, most sexual assault victims could not pursue the cases because the police station in Pakyi lacked the vehicular means to send cases to Kumasi.
Mr Kwadwo Boadi, a complainant and parent of a victim in a defilement case, said the long distance, coupled with traffic jam and bad roads made him drop the charges against a perpetrator.
Madam Sarah Amoako, another complainant appealed to government to as a matter of urgency, “come to the aid of the poor to help secure justice”.
Mr Alex Donkor, Assembly man for Pakyi Number Two, said several of such cases passed through the Unit Committee members before reaching the police, adding that he sometimes bore the cost for sending cases to Asokwa.
He said the establishment of the DoVVSU in the area would reduce the stress on the Assembly, complainants, and police personnel.
Mr Donkor was not happy that two other adjourning districts, Atwima-Kwanwoma and Amansie Central, also did not have a domestic violence unit.
Justice, he said, was even more delayed, because victims go as far as Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Kumasi for examination, leading many complainants to abandon their cases.
The Assemblyman thought that when Pakyi Number Two got the Unit, it would not only help curb domestic violence cases, which were becoming rampant in the area, but also help with cases in adjoining towns including Dominase, Ajamasu, Trede, Brofoyeduro, Nkoransa, Kotwi, Anyinam, Kokoben and Santasi.
GNA