The Wa Circuit Court has sentenced Issahaku Waris, a 31-year-old resident of Wa Zongo, to seven years imprisonment for defiling a 5-year-old female child.
The court presided over by His Lordship Jonathan Avoogo gave his ruling on Friday, July 18. The unlawful act, according to the Ghana Police Service, occurred on Thursday, April 24.
The convict was apprehended on Saturday, April 26, by officers of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and swiftly put before the court.
The victim’s family and the community, who were cooperative, aided the diligent investigation carried out by the DOVVSU.
The Police noted the conviction in the defilement case underscores its unwavering commitment to justice and the protection of vulnerable members of society. It has thus encouraged members of the general public to report all forms of abuse promptly.
The Criminal Offences Act, 1960, defines defilement in Section 101(2) of Act 29 as natural or unnatural carnal knowledge of a child under sixteen years of age with or without the child’s consent.
According to section 14(a) of Act 29, consent for carnal knowledge of a child under sixteen years is void—with punishment of not less than seven years and not more than twenty-five years in prison.
The Ghana Police Service continues to ensure it seeks justice for families that have had their underage children defiled.
Teenage pregnancy
Defilement cases involving teen girls who have begun their menstrual periods could lead to teenage pregnancy, and this is a canker the country is currently battling.
Reports suggest that currently the country is recording a surge in teenage pregnancy cases. Sources say the national teenage pregnancy rate stands at 15.2 percent.
With a 26 percent rate, the Savannah Region is said to have the highest number of cases, and with 24 percent, the Ashanti Region follows.
In the first five months of the year, the Upper East Region is reported to have recorded 2,436 cases of teenage pregnancy.
The Upper East Regional Health Information Officer of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Ms Charity Tanni disclosed this information during a presentation at a review meeting on the Essential Services Packages (ESP) for girls and women who are victims of violence.
The data she presented reveals that 2,411 of the cases involved teens between the ages of 15 and 19, whereas 25 of the cases involved teens between the ages of 10 and 14.
A district breakdown revealed that the Bawku West District recorded 372 cases, Pusiga (276), Bongo (212), Talensi (210), Kassena Nankana West (198), Kassena Nankana Municipality (196), Bolgatanga Municipality (152), Bawku Municipality (147), Tempane (123), Garu (118), Builsa South (116), Nabdam (100), Binduri (86), Builsa North (78), Bolgatanga East (52).
The ESP project is being implemented by the Department of Gender in collaboration with the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing financial support.
The review meeting saw stakeholders such as the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Ghana Education Service (GES), Judicial Service, Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Legal Aid Commission, Department of Social Welfare, and Civil Society Organisations.
Several stakeholders are concerned over the surging cases of teenage pregnancy. At a regional consultation workshop on sexual and reproductive health rights organised by PN Africa in collaboration with Marie Stopes International (MSI) in June in Kumasi, they called for a review of the Ghana Education Service (GES) policy.
They want intensified sexual and reproductive health education as well as family planning methods. They noted that abstinence has not been too effective in averting teenage pregnancy.
These cases of teenage pregnancy are among the factors responsible for the rapid growth in population, which, if not matched with growth in resources, will affect the country’s development.
What the law says about abortion
Many people tend to engage in abortion to get rid of unwanted children conceived through several means.
Ghana’s laws define abortion or miscarriage as the premature expulsion or removal of conception from the uterus or womb before the period of gestation is completed.
A person who intentionally and unlawfully causes abortion or miscarriage commits a second degree felony.
However, Section 58 of the Criminal Offences Act indicates it is not a criminal offence under subsection (1) if an abortion or a miscarriage is caused in any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) by a registered medical practitioner specialising in gynaecology or any other registered medical practitioner in a Government hospital or in a private hospital or clinic registered under the Private Hospitals and Maternity Homes Act, 1958 (No. 9) or in a place approved for the purpose by legislative instrument made by the Minister,
(a) where the pregnancy is the result of rape, defilement of a female idiot or incest, and the abortion or miscarriage is requested by the victim or her next of kin or the person in loco parent is, if she lacks the capacity to make the request;
(b) where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman or injury to her physical or mental health, and the woman consents to it or if she lacks the capacity to give the consent it is given on her behalf by her next to kin or the person in loco parentis; or
(c) where there is substantial risk that if the child were born, it may suffer from, or later develop, a serious physical abnormality or disease.
