Blacksmith gets 15 years for defiling and impregnating iced water seller

Cape Coast, Feb. 01, GNA – A Cape Coast Circuit court has sentenced a 37-year-old Blacksmith, Kofi Duku to 15 years imprisonment in hard labour for defiling a 15-year-old girl.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of defilement, but was found guilty by the court presided over by Mrs. Dorinda Smith-Arthur.

Detailing the fact of the case, Detective Chief Inspector John Asare Bediako, said on Monday, October 05, 2020, Duku bought a sachet of water from the girl who was hawking at Jukwa market and asked her to come for the money later at his shop.

Later that day, the victim went to the said shop to collect her money in his absence and was directed by the convict’s colleagues to his house.

The girl, went to Duku’s house, but when she entered his room, the convict pounced on her and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her and later gave her GHC 1.50 pesewas.

After the act, he threatened to kill her if she ever revealed the incidence to anyone.

The prosecutor said, the victim out of fear, kept the incident secret until her Aunt, who is the complainant, detected some changes in her and questioned her before she narrated her ordeal to Mrs Antwi.

The complainant reported the matter to the police on Saturday, January 09, 2021 and the accused was apprehended on Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

The case was referred to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and a medical report later, confirmed a broken hymen and a 13- week pregnancy.

GNA