The Member of Parliament for Asokwa in the Ashanti region, Patricia Appiagyei, has called for the boys arrested in the Bantama gang rape saga to be lined up and flogged publicly.
According to her, the behaviour of the boys seen in the gang rape video which has gone viral can be attributed to youthful exuberance, alcohol or drugs.
“One of the things that could have urged the young ones to indulge in this kind of sodomy as I call it is either they were under the influence of alcohol or were on drugs.
“But like I said, they are showing their wild edge, they have started having feelings and therefore were examining their feelings and directed it [there] because they don’t have the right parental care to tell them that there are certain things that we don’t do in our society.
“I don’t think we have to waste time to get the rest, you know they are minors and…I don’t think prison will change them. It even hardens them because we don’t have the kind of atmosphere where people can really reflect and then show remorse for what they have done…but when you are publicly punished I believe that will make you better…I believe [flogging] them will help,” the former Kumasi Mayor told Starr News’ Parliamentary correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan.
The gang rape video has sparked massive outrage in the country with majority of Ghanaians calling on the Police to ensure that the boys are prosecuted.
The about five minutes video shows an underage girl pinned to a mattress by one of her abusers while his accomplices take turns to perform sexual acts on her.
The victim who was resisting her attackers all-through the ordeal was restrained from escaping by her abusers who appeared to be having fun with the torture.
Three of the boys seen in the video have been arrested as four more boys are being pursued by the Police.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
