Police claim that Fijai taxi driver committed suicide while in custody in doubt after pathologist's court appearance

The pathologist who performed an autopsy on Joseph Entsie, the taxi driver who allegedly hanged himself in a police cell in Sekondi has told the Sekondi Magistrate Court B presided over by Her Ladyship Rosemary Hayford that ingredients that should support his suicide were missing when he conducted his examination.

The 53-year-old taxi driver at the Fijai taxi rank in Sekondi had been arrested on 25th December, 2021 for alleged drunk driving and hitting some policemen at the Effia Nkwanta Nurses Quarters police checkpoint with his car.

He was then sent to the Sekondi police station and placed in a cell.

The Western Region Police Command in its report had stated that Joseph Entsie was later found dead in his cell with his jeans trousers tied to his neck, suggesting suicide.

But the pathologist who performed an autopsy on him had informed the family he did not die by hanging.

The police then asked for another autopsy from a different pathologist but refused to disclose the results to the family because they [the family] had refused to be present for the second autopsy.

With the help of the Legal Aid Commission, the case was sent to court and is at its sixth hearing.

Answering questions from the Counsel of the deceased Ebo Donkor in court, Pathologist Isaac Erskine, who also performed an autopsy on the deceased taxi driver, explained to the court that from his examination of the lungs, the possible cause of death could be a force of violence.

Counsel for the family of the deceased Ebo Donkor told journalists the pronouncements by the pathologist is in tandem with the family's long held view that their relative was beaten to death.

The case has been adjourned to June 1 and 3.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana