Woman Stabs Mum To Death

Like a scene from a movie, the Kasoa police beheld a bizarre spectacle of a woman seated in a sofa watching TV in the living room a few feet away from the kitchen, where her slain mother lay in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife stuck in her chest.

Thirty-eight-year-old Patience Asiedu-Larbi, who allegedly had a history of mental disorder, sat there calmly after allegedly stabbing her 71-year-old mum, a stroke patient, at Kasoa.

Patience allegedly told the police on her arrest that she stabbed the old lady, Dora Asiedu-Larbi, to death to relieve her mother from further suffering as she had been bedridden for far too long with the stroke.

Her siblings, however, pleaded with the Awutu Beraku District Magistrate, when Patience was arraigned, to be allowed to send her to the psychiatric hospital for medical attention.

That was after the magistrate, Mr Kofi Ahiabor, had questioned them on why they left the old lady in the care of their sister knowing very well that she was a mental patient.

They explained that Patience had been healed long ago and had been with the old lady since 2000 without any abnormal behaviour towards her. However, her plea was not taken and she was remanded in prison custody until November 25, 2008, pending advice from the Attorney-General's Department in Cape Coast.

Showing the gory picture of the corpse with the knife stuck in its chest to the court, Chief Inspector Helena Aidoo said at about 8.30 p.m. on November 11, 2008 co-tenants and neighbours of the deceased heard her screaming indoors and calling the name Efe! Efe! Efe!, a name by which she calls Patience.

Her screams alarmed and attracted the neighbours to her door and they also started calling Patience, who did not respond.

She said one of the neighbours, Mr Josaphat Sansan, entered the house after forcing the outer door opened and found the deceased lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife stuck deep in her chest, while Patience, wielding another kitchen knife, moved menacingly in the house.

Ms Aidoo said Josaphat came out to inform the other neighbours of the incident and was joined by the others to barricade the doorway to prevent Patience from escaping. They then went to report at the Kasoa police station.

The prosecutor said the police rushed to the scene and found the deceased in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife stuck deep in her chest while Patience sat watching TV.

She said Patience became apprehensive at the sight of the police and told them she killed her mother to end her suffering, adding that she started behaving abnormally and resisted arrest. She was, however, overpowered.

The corpse has since been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital mortuary awaiting autopsy and burial.

Story by Ekow Yamoah