Suspected murderer remanded

Thirty-five year-old Kwasi Ankama who allegedly poisoned and killed his wife over divorce in Dunkwa-on-Offin, has been remanded into prison custody by Dunkwa-on-Offin Magistrate Court, presided over by Mr Hans Kpogo.

His plea was not taken and the Court ordered him to re-appear on 31st March 2009.

Ankama was arrested at Manhyia, a suburb of Kumasi on March 5, 2009 upon a tip-off.

Briefing the press on how Ankama was arrested, Superintendent Anderson Samuel Buabeng, Dunkwa-on-Offin Municipal Police Commander, said a woman (name withheld) met Ankama at Manhyia while attending her Auntie's funeral.

He said the woman who knows Ankama and the murder story invited him to attend the funeral at Menhyia.

Supt Buabeng said the woman later alerted some people who arrested Ankama at the funeral and handed him over to Manhyia police, who also sent him to face trial in Dunkwa-on-Offin.

On hearing of the arrest of Ankama, a number of the youth in Dunkwa-on-Offin besieged the Police Station demanding the release of the murderer to be lynched.

Ankama a former employee of Ashanti Goldfields and a sign writer was alleged to have killed his wife following her decision to divorce him.

Recounting the incident, Supt Buabeng said a few months ago the wife of Ankama, Nancy Nkwantabisa, popularly known as Yaa left her marital home to stay with her Aunt, Madam Victoria Amofa Appiah due to maltreatment meted out to her by the husband.

All attempts by Ankama to get Yaa back home proved futile.

On January 14 this year Ankama went to Yaa's residence when her Auntie had left for work and asked Yaa to choose between two options; either she allowed him to have sex with her or he killed her.

Following the deceased's refusal to grant his request, Ankama strangled her till she became unconscious.

Before she died Yaa told her Auntie that she fought Ankama and in the process she was overpowered and fell unconscious, giving him the opportunity to 'sleep' with her, after which he forced a bottle of acid down her throat and poured the rest into her private part.

She alleged that after the act Ankama drank some alcoholic beverages from the refrigerator in the house, and ran away.

Yaa was rushed to the Dunkwa-on-Offin Government Hospital where she died six days later on 20th January 2009.

She has since been buried.
GNA