A Koforidua Circuit Court presided over by Her Honour Marian Affoh has convicted a 43-year-old farmer, Nobi Peter, to seven years jail term for chopping off his nine-year-old son’s forefinger, for stealing fish.
He was additionally fined GH¢2,000 to pay as compensation for the cost of medical treatment incurred.
According to the facts presented to the court by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Bernard Annor the incident occurred on Sunday, July 7, 2019, after the victim [the nine-year-old] took a piece of fish to eat banku before leaving for church.
The father, however, became furious after realising the child had eaten the fish upon his return. He then angrily stormed the Church, violently dragged him out to the house, put his fingers on a pestle, and chopped off his forefinger.
According to reports, the nine-year-old’s mother, who is no longer with the convict got to know of her child’s predicament after a week.
The incident, which happened at Twento, a farming Community near Begoro in the Eastern region was reported to the Begoro Police by the mother upon which the convict was arrested. He was then referred to the Domestic Violence and Victims Supports Unit (DOVVSU) at the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters which medical report form was issued to the victim for treatment at Begoro Government Hospital.
Upon interrogation, the convict admitted chopping off the finger of the victim because he stole his fish and justified that would serve as a deterrent to the victim.
He was therefore charged for causing harm and put before the Koforidua Circuit Court “A” on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, where he pleaded guilty.
The Presiding Judge before delivering the sentence told the convict that the said stolen fish can be replaced but the cut off finger of his son is irreplaceable. She, therefore, advised parents to exercise maximum restraint when angered by their children.
She admonished the convict to take a lesson from the incident and after serving, his sentence be a responsible father.
Mother of victim appeal
Mother of the victim, Gifty Laweh, in an interview with Starr News said she had seven children with the convict but divorced him for being indolent about seeking medical treatment for the victim suffering from Imperforated Anus.
According to her, she was abandoned at Korle Bu Hospital eight years ago when the victim was sent to the hospital for colostomy, adding it took the intervention of a philanthropist to foot the medical bill before finally released from detention at the hospital.
She said the victim constantly threatens to kill her whenever she raises the issue with the deteriorating health of the victim hence the divorce.
She said due to stigma the victim stopped schooling because he defecates through a small opening at side of the abdomen.
She is, therefore, appealing to philanthropists to come to the aid of the victim to correct the birth defect to enable him to return to School.
Imperforate anus
Imperforate anus is a birth defect that happens while a baby is still growing in the womb making the baby’s anus improperly developed to pass stool normally from the rectum out of the body.
According to research, one out of every 5,000 babies has an imperforate anus or other malformation of the anus or rectum.
It occurs more often in boys than in girls. The rectum, bladder, and vagina of a female baby with an imperforate anus sometimes share one large opening. This opening is called a cloaca.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
