Margaret Amoako, the trader who allegedly beat and locked up her 16-year-old daughter in a room to prevent her from reporting an alleged sexual abuse on her by her biological father, Warrant Officer (WO) George Koffie, was yesterday granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court.
This was after she was charged with abetment of crime, and she pleaded not guilty in a court presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah-Datsa.
She was granted ¢10,000 bail with one surety while the case has been adjourned to July 11, 2011.
Margaret was represented by George Assamaney and Raymond Bagnabu.
Her husband, a military officer, is being tried by the same judge for having sexual intercourse with his daughter and they will be tried on the same day.
The prosecuting officer, ASP Sarah Acquah, who presented the facts of the case, told the court that the suspect is a trader who lives with her family at Burma Camp and has a 16-year old daughter, a student at Adukrom in the Eastern Region.
According to her, on June 18, 2011, a case of incest involving the husband and daughter of the suspect was reported to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, Accra by her daughter.
According to her, the girl told police that her father had sex with her twice on June 3, 2011, after pretending he was taking her to buy school shoes for her before taking her to school.
She said when the victim called her mother and told her that her father had slept with her, her mother called her to come home from school and she purchased some drugs for her after her arrival. She afterwards warned her daughter not to disclose the incident to anybody as it would bring disgrace to the family.
When the victim insisted on reporting the matter to the police, her mother beat her up and locked her in a room in an attempt to put fear in her, adding that when her daughter finally reported the incest to the police, the suspect went to her school and forced the victim to go to the police and retract the story.
The police officer noted that the accused person forced the victim to say she lied when she (accused) knew very well that the incest story was true.
ASP Acquah said the trader, in a further attempt to extricate her husband from the grips of the law, after he was put before court for the offence, went to a witness in the case and begged him to come to court and testify that he was the one who slept with her daughter and not her father but the said witness refused.
The police officer, who is also the prosecuting officer in the trial of the husband of the accused person for incest, told the court that George Kofi was a military officer who lived with his wife and the victim who is their biological daughter and a student.
She said the accused person, between the hours of 5am and 11am on June 3, 2011, invited his daughter to town under the pretext of buying school shoes for her.
The police officer said the accused person took his daughter to a hotel at La-Accra where he forcibly had sex with her and told her not to tell anybody or else he would kill her.
On the same day at about 2:30pm, the accused picked the victim up, as if he was taking her to Adukrom in the Eastern Region, but drove her to a private hotel at La in Accra and had sex with her again.
Prosecution said after the act, the accused person took the victim to Tema Station to board a car to Adukrom in the Eastern Region.
It said the victim, on reaching school, called her mother and informed her of her father's conduct.
The victim's mother told her not to inform anyone, else the issue would bring disgrace to the entire family.
Prosecution said the victim's mother rather bought her medicines, and after taking the medication, the victim detected that she was pregnant and lodged a complaint with the Police at Cantonments.
The case was however referred to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU). The accused was arrested and a medical form issued to the victim for examination and treatment.
The police officer said the military officer denied the offence after his arrest and was arraigned after police concluded investigations.
By Fidelia Achama
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