Mother Slashes Son’s Throat

Fed up with the hardship in life, a 22-year-old woman caused a stir when she slashed the throat of her three month old baby boy, dug a hole and buried him.

Hawa Alhassan, unemployed, was said to have slit the throat of the child in a manner described by the police as a job done with finesse. She was said to have cut the throat perfectly at the base of the neck.

After burying the body, Hawa allegedly fled, but three days after she re-surfaced at her father's abode claiming that she was being hunted by the boy's ghost. Her father, Alhassan Mamprusi, exhumed the body after his daughter took him to the spot where she buries the corpse. The body has been deposited at the Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital mortuary for autopsy while Hawa has been handed over to the police to help with investigations.

Police Inspector Christopher Tawiah, the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) said the incident happened at Nkrankwanta in the Dormaa District on March 27, this year. He said Hawa gave birth to the boy but was unable to tell who was responsible for her pregnancy. Frustrated, she was said to have left her place for a town near the border with La Cote d'Ivoire. On that fateful day, her father left for his farm leaving Hawa and the baby behind. On his return at about 5:30pm, Hawa could not be found together with her baby.

However, her father did not suspect anything until the third day when there was no trace of Hawa and the child. According to Inspector Tawiah, just as Hawa's father decided to lodge a complaint with the police, Hawa returned looking very pale. When asked about the whereabouts of her son, she broke into tears, claiming that she was having some burning sensation on her body. She then started shouting: “I will confess.” Inspector Tawiah said she therefore led her father to a nearly spot in the bush, and when it was dug, the body was found with a sharp cut on the throat.

Hawa, Inspector Tawiah said has been provisionally charged with murder and would soon be put before a law court.