The police administration has said that they are confident of building a case strong enough to prosecute the Lebanese boss who allegedly raped his Ghanaian house help in Accra.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, the Public Relations Officer at the Accra Regional Police Command ASP Effia Tenge said there is enough time to gather important facts for prosecution.
“We still have more time for us to be able to work within the limit that we have or the hours of detention to be able to prosecute him or to be able to put all our facts together and put him before a court.”
Even if a strong case is not put together before then, ASP Tenge said the police could “plead with the court to remand him so we can do further investigations if by that time we have not been able to gather what we are looking for.”
According to ASP Tenge, the suspect, still unnamed, has so far denied the allegations against him.
ASP Tenge said investigations were also being carried out into the suspicions of misconduct and negligence “whatever it is that we find out, or we believed due process was not followed, those ones will be handled internally.”
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But shedding some light on the victim’s first visit to the police where an assault complaint was made, she noted that “to her [the rape victim], she didn’t even want to pursue it.”
“All that she wanted was the assistance of the police to be able to accompany to her to her boss’ house so she collects her belongings so that is what the police did. She also demanded that she has worked in that house for the period of a month and therefore, she has the right to collect her monthly salary.”
No complaints were made of previous rape and the issue of rape had not even come in the reports, ASP Tenge added.
Background
The victim in this rape and assault case, speaks only Ewe and French.
She narrated that the suspect beat her after his apparent displeasure with the coffee she had prepared for him.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM she said the suspect then dragged her to a bedroom and raped her.
She said he slapped her twice in her face, finally overpowered her and dragged her to his bedroom to rape her.
She had also told the Daily Graphic newspaper that she is consistently harassed for sex by her boss anytime his wife was not at home.
Meanwhile, a former Attorney General, under the erstwhile John Mahama administration has promised to ensure that justice is served to the 19-year-old victim.
Marietta Brew-Appiah Oppong told Accra-based Joy FM that investigations can be done properly since the case got an immediate response.
“Very often by the time you become aware of a situation like this, the time has elapsed and evidence is lost and it becomes very difficult to follow up on it. That is why we are very keen on following up on this one to make sure the proper investigation and prosecution is done.”