In-Laws Assault Wife

THE MADINA Divisional Police Command branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DVVSU) is questioning Madam Mina Souza and her two daughters, Harriot and Harriet Agudu, for allegedly assaulting and evicting Janet Baiden, 26, their in-law from her marital home.

Madam Souza's son, Charles Agudu, who is the husband of Janet, has also been arrested for supposedly instigating his mother and two sisters to assault his own wife.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE at the police station, Chief Superintendent Beatrice Amoako, Crime Officer in-charge of the Madina DVVSU said Janet, a petty trader, lived with her husband, Charles, at Kwabenya, a suburb of Accra. She said for the past three months, the couple had been quarrelling, and for peace to prevail, the husband vacated their matrimonial home to an unknown destination.

On February 11 this year at 10pm, Madam Souza and her two daughters stormed the house of the couple, asking Janet to pack bag and baggage and leave because Charles said he was no longer interested in the marriage.

Janet was said to have asked that since Charles married her from her parents, custom demanded he sent her back to her parents if he felt he no long had interest in her.

That comment, according C/Supt. Madam Amoako, did not go down well with the in-laws who pounced on her and beat her up mercilessly.

They were said to have used spikes, a piece of wood affixed with nails, to scratch her body, resulting in blisters all over her body.

Due to the nature of the wound, Janet became unconsciousness and had to be rushed to the Achimota Hospital by some Good Samaritans.

Janet, who was admitted but later discharged after treatment, subsequently lodged a complaint with the police who arrested the suspects.

Upon receipt of information that her mother and sisters had been arrested, Charles went to the Madina Police Station to ostensibly bail them, but he too was arrested on the instructions of C/Inspector Edward Dzokoto, the Madina DVVSU Station Officer.

The Crime Officer said Charles, Madam Souza and her daughters would be put before court to serve as a deterrent to family members who assault their in-laws.

In an interview, Charles told DAILY GUIDE that he had an accident sometime ago and his wife told him in the face that she was not prepared to be his caretaker so would no longer stay with him.

According to him, Janet 'advised' him to go to his girlfriend to receive that attention.

When asked if he truly had a girlfriend, Charles admitted that he had a girlfriend and that his wife was aware of the situation.

He even disclosed that on the day that he quarreled with his wife, he left for his girlfriend's house where he took 'shelter'. He however denied instigating his mother and two sisters to evict or beat his wife.

By Wisdom Peter Awuku