A 17-year-old girl, Dorcas Amanor, sustained head injuries and became unconscious after she jumped off a speeding taxi vehicle to escape from a suspected kidnapping attempt.
The driver of the taxi with registration number GW 7208-12, Ali Kwame, has been arrested by the Police after he went into hiding.
The driver was on Wednesday put before court and charged with two counts of kidnapping and causing harm.
Narrating the incident to the Koforidua Circuit Court, the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Solomon Keelson said the father of the victim lodged complaint at the Nkrukan Police Station that, at about 8:30pm on Sunday, the victim in her quest to find transport from Koforidua to Nkrukan, approached the accused who was in charge of an Opel Astra taxi cab.
According to Chief Inspector Keelson, the accused driver agreed to convey the victim alone to her destination by taking the normal fare per passenger – GHC1.20p – from the victim.
The accused reportedly engaged the victim in a conversation during the journey to Nkrukan.
The Prosecutor further said upon reaching the Nkrukan Police station, the victim prompted the accused driver to stop for her to alight but the driver refused and rather accelerated, compelling the victim to continuously bang on the taxi while she shouted several times for help in vain.
The victim upon reaching Etwiso, a nearby community which is about 2km away from her destination, gathered courage and jumped out of the taxi.
She became unconscious after falling from the roadside but the accused driver fearing he could be attacked sped off.
According to Chief Inspector Keelson, two young men who were on their way to buy fuel from a nearby filling station chanced on the victim who was bleeding with multiple injuries on the head and a fracture on her left ankle.
She was rushed to the hospital where she was treated and discharged.
