Six-year-old freed from torture

The Police on Tuesday stormed a kiosk at East Legon and rescued a six-year old boy from a woman who had subjected him to a seven-month ordeal.

The operation was executed when officials from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service freed the boy from severe beatings and arrested the woman who was said to be his aunt.

At the time of his dramatic rescue, the boy had both arms broken and bandaged up by the aunt whose name was given as Helen Sena Nyarko, 27.

The boy Yayra Nyarko had bruises all over his body and a deep cut on his head.

His face was swollen and he had blood shot eyes, besides he was looking fragile, hungry and terrified.

According to the Deputy Regional coordinator of the unit, ASP Cecilia Arko, her outfit had a tip off about the ordeal of the boy and some personnel were dispatched to the area to effect the arrest of the woman.

She said his two arms were tied and swollen and as at the time of his rescue, at about 2 pm he had not taken any food.

A resident of the neighbourhood, Ms Stephanie Attipoe who the Daily Graphic spoke to, said when Helen brought the boy to live with her, he was healthy looking.

She said Helen operated a provision shop at East Legon near Emmanuel Eye Clinic where he regularly locked the boy and subjected him to long periods of severe beatings.

According to her the woman's behaviour caused a lot of anxiety in the area but anytime residents raised the issue, she would insult them the whole day.

She said as time went on the boy began losing weight and looking sick following the constant beatings from Helen, who sometimes ground pepper and smear it on his soured body and eyes.

Stephanie said it became unbearable for her last Friday when Helen subjected the boy to merciless beating with a stick breaking his two arms in the process and leaving them dangling.

She said she and other residents of the area then decided to alert the police for the appropriate action to be taken.

Helen told police interrogators she hailed from a village near Avetime in the Volta Region and the boy was the son of her stepbrother who had a mental problem.

She said her brother's wife took their two children to her hometown but she went for the victim to come live with her in Accra but did not enroll him in any school, even though that was everybody's expectation.

She claimed she did not have money to send the boy to the hospital to treat his injury.

The boy is currently receiving treatment at the Police Hospital in Accra and Helen is assisting the police in their investigations.