Police sure of successful prosecution of open-air rapist

Police say evidence gathered is enough to secure a conviction for Bawuah

Police in Kumasi say they have sufficient evidence to secure a conviction for the man who allegedly raped a 19-year-old girl in the full glare of the public.

Heavily built Eric Adjei Bawuah is alleged to have seized the young woman at dawn on Wednesday at the Neoplan Bus Terminal as she attempted to board an Accra-bound bus.

Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Tanko, told Joy News investigations have been concluded and that there was sufficient evidence to seek the suspect's conviction.

“Investigations have been concluded so far and we think we have a good case,” he told Joy FM's Sampson Lardi Ayenini.

He said the police have also taken testimonies of witnesses on the scene.

Bawuah grabbed the victim moments after she had parted company with her elder sister whom she had gone to visit. He bundled the girl into a taxi cab but asked the driver to stop a few metres away and dragged her into a drinking bar where he raped her while onlookers stood by.

It took the courage of a resident who heard the wailings of the distraught lady to come to her rescue while police from the Zongo community were called in to arrest Bawuah.

Bawuah has however denied raping the victim. He said the young lady was a prostitute who had consented to the act for which he had paid a fee.

Residents of Asafo where Bawuah subjected his victim to the ordeal, describe him as a notorious armed robber who has been terrorizing residents for the past three years.

As of midday Friday, Bawuah, donning a blue jeans trousers and T-shirt was being led to the Asafo Magistrate Court, Luv FM's Ohemeng Tawiah reported.

Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana