Dad beheads son for GH¢35,000

The magistrate court at Assin Foso in the Central Region was filled to capacity when hundreds of people drawn from various villages in and around the town thronged the court Monday to catch a glimpse of a 24-year-old articulated truck driver, Mensah Adukatse, who beheaded his 3-year-old son, Kojo Adukatse, in a nearby bush at Sea near Assin Gangan on Saturday.

Some of the villagers claimed Mensah had been promised GH¢35,000 by a mallam in Kumasi if he could produce a human head for rituals, prompting him to cut off his son's head.

The court, presided over by Joseph Blay, heard the facts from the police and remanded Mensah into police custody to re-appear on December 20, 2010.

The presiding judge, after the prosecutor had finished with the facts asked Mensah whether he had something to say but Mensah, whose face was swollen following severe beatings he received from the residents of the area, said he really committed a big crime and wanted to explain why he did that. The judge however told him it was too early for him to sing like canary about his reprehensible action.

Prosecuting, ASP Samuel Odro Kwarteng said the complainant in the case was a farmer living at Assin Antoabaase, a village in Assin Fosu, while the accused was the former boyfriend of the complainant's daughter, Adjoa Cynthia.

Mensah, who impregnated Cynthia and refused responsibility, left Assin Gangan surreptitiously in 2007, only to resurface on Thursday, December 2, 2010 to attend his grandfather's funeral.

According to prosecution, Mensah went to plead with Cynthia's family a day after his arrival to forgive him since he was now ready to take up his responsibilities as a father, a situation which compelled the family to release the child to him.

Prosecution said Mensah, who stayed in Cynthia's family house until it was very late, was then given a room to spend the night.

ASP Odro Kwarteng told the court that on Saturday around 7am, Mensah asked Cynthia to bath Kojo (the son) and dress him so that they could take the lead to the funeral grounds while Cynthia followed later.

Prosecution said on their way to the place where the funeral was taking place, Mensah stopped at Sea and went into a nearby bush, where a native doctor resided, to cut off the head of the boy.

Cynthia was later informed that Mensah had beheaded her son at Sea and wanted to run away but was apprehended and handed over to the police.

During interrogation, Mensah admitted to the offence but was quick to add that he was asked to produce a human head by a Mallam in Abuakwa, Kumasi to enable him to get rich quick.

Most of the people who trooped to the court could not hide their feelings after the court had remanded him as they rained insults on him as others wept uncontrollably.

According to some residents, Mensah claimed he was given some herbs and a ring to swallow by the Mallam so that the wife would willingly give the son to him despite the inhuman treatment meted out to her during pregnancy.

Some or the village claimed Mensah went straight to a herbalist in the village and raised the alarm that he has killed his son and that he would be given GH¢35,000 by a mallam in Kumasi.

The body of the boy has since been deposited at the St Francis Xavier Hospital at Assin Foso morgue for autopsy.