Ritual Murder Hits Accra

Residents of Awoshie Been-To in the Ga South District of the Greater Accra Region, in the early hours of yesterday, September, 29, were greeted with shock and disbelief following the gruesome murder of a young boy, possibly for ritual purposes.

The boy, who is suspected to be about nine years old and appears to be mentally deranged, was believed to have been killed by some unknown assailants, after which the genitals and other parts of his body were removed.

The body was then dumped in a prostrate position at a spot along the main road, to create the impression that he was dismembered or run over by a vehicle.

Even though the exact time of the murder was not yet known, residents suspected that the body must have been dumped there around 4.am.

Deep cuts under his thighs and abdomen indicated that sharp objects might have been used by the assailants. According to Charles Attah, a driver, he saw the boy roaming naked in the Awoshie Baah Yard area the previous day, in the company of another boy of his age.

'He was wearing only a cardigan, popularly known as 'sweater', and I saw the two of them approach a pineapple seller asking for a knife to cut something. The woman refused and drove them away,' he related. 

Charles further recalled that he saw the same boy later in the day (after church service) having his lunch alone near a gutter.

'Around 6 o'clock this morning, I was at home when a friend came to inform me that the boy we saw the previous day had been murdered and dumped along the road,' he added.

By the time DAILY GUIDE got to the area, the scene had already attracted a large crowd thereby causing human and vehicular traffic right from the Awoshie Last Stop to the Been-To area.

A woman, who would not like to be named, said she saw the boy being dragged away in the afternoon by a middle-aged man into a black car.

'I thought the man was a relative of the boy so I did not bother taking the registration number of the car until I heard this morning that he had been murdered and dumped along the road,' she said.

Meanwhile, a boy, believed to be the brother of the deceased whose name was only given as Felix, upon seeing the body of his lifeless brother, fell unconscious instantly.

Passers-by revived him with a dose of garlic and water before they rushed him to a nearby clinic.

Two teams of Police personnel from the Anyah and Odorkor Police Stations had conveyed the body to the morgue for autopsy.

By Linda Tenyah