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July 21, 2023
CIRCUIT COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT
The Accused Person is charged with one count of Defilement of a child under
sixteen years contrary to section 101(2) and one count of Incest contrary to
section 105(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The facts as presented by prosecution are that the Accused is the father of
complainant Happy Segbawo and Victoria Segbawo and lives with them at
Nyabeman. Prosecution says that in February, 2023, the Accused had sex with
the victim, Victoria, aged 9 years old and warned her not to tell anyone or he
will beat her. According to prosecution, Accused continued to have sex with
victim on more than three occasions and on 14th April, 2023, the complainant
woke up around 6:00am and saw Accused lying on top of victim and having
sex with her. On the same day, complainant went to the police station to
lodge a complainant and a police medical form was issued to the Department
of Social Welfare for the victim to be sent to the hospital. The Accused person
was arrested and based upon these facts he was arraigned before this court.
By a Ruling dated 6th July, 2023, the Accused Person was called upon to open
his defence to the charges. Accused testified on oath on 14th July, 2023. His
brief testimony before the court was that the charges levelled against him are
untrue.
Having denied the offence, this court must determine whether this
explanation of Accused is reasonably true. See MAHAMADU LAGOS v.
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE [1961] 1 GLR 181.
The direct evidence of PW1 and PW2 are of the essence. PW1, the seventeenyear-old daughter of Accused testified that on the day in question, she woke
up and saw the Accused having sex with PW2, so she reported the matter to
the police for assistance. The nine-year-old victim, PW2 who is also the
daughter of Accused testified that sometime ago she was asleep when the
Accused removed her clothes and had sex with her. According to her after the
first incident of the sexual intercourse Accused had sex with her on three
other occasions. She stated that she felt pains when the Accused had sex with
her and after he was done, he warned her not to tell anyone if not he will beat
her. Aside the direct evidence of PW2 which is corroborated by PW1’s direct
evidence, there is also before this court Exhibit F which is the medical report
indicating that the hymen of PW2 cannot be visualized.
As already indicated in the Ruling of the court, the evidence of PW2 was
unsworn. It is trite that unsworn e
AI Generated Summary
Her Honour Enid Marful-Sau, sitting as Circuit Judge in Amasaman, convicted a father, aged 43, of defilement and incest against his nine-year-old daughter, Victoria Segbawo, following a trial where the prosecution relied on direct testimony from Victoria (PW2) and her sister, Happy Segbawo (PW1). PW1 observed the accused in the act on two mornings in February and April 2023; PW2 described multiple incidents and threats. A medical report (Exhibit F) indicated her hymen could not be visualized. The court applied Ghanaian authorities requiring corroboration of unsworn testimony by minors and found PW1 credible and corroborative. The accused’s denial did not create a reasonable doubt. The court also confirmed his age (from Exhibits D and D1) and the father–daughter relationship, satisfying elements of incest. The accused was found guilty on both counts and convicted.