A 14-year-old boy who could not withstand the cruel behaviour of his mother walked from Osu to the Ministries District Police to report her to the police.
Weeping uncontrollably, the teenager said he defied everybody on the route to the police station to lodge a formal complaint against his biological mother for allegedly burning his hands and face on suspicion that the boy had stolen GH¢20.
“For once, my intention was to bring the wickedness meted out to me by my own mother to the attention of the law enforcement agency. Although my mother had never been wicked to me in the past, I felt her action was inhuman and she must be made to answer for it,” he said.
The 40-year-old woman is in the custody of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
Mary Timah, a trader and mother of three, was arrested after her son had escaped to the police station with severe burns on his cheek, left ear, neck and wrist.
The police said the boy was immediately taken to the Police Hospital where he was admitted. He was discharged six days later.
How boy was burnt The victim (name withheld) lives at Osu with his mother and his two siblings.
Relating his ordeal, the boy said about 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2015, he was home with his two siblings when their mother returned from her trading activities.
“When she came home, she realised that her wardrobe had been broken into and GH¢20 she had kept there was missing,” the teary eyed boy said.
He said his mother immediately accused him of stealing the money and asked him to return it if he wanted to live in peace with her.
“No matter how much I tried to convince my mother that I had not taken the money, she insisted the money was with me and so I should produce it,” he said.
Angry Timah was said to have locked up her son in the room, while the other two children waited outside.
While alone with her son, she tried to get him to produce the money but the boy stood his ground.
When all efforts, such as beating the boy to “tell the truth”, failed, Timah was said to have tortured him with an electric iron which was plugged into a source of power.
The boy claimed his mother first placed the hot electric iron on his wrists and while he was screaming for help, she positioned it on his face and neck.
Escape Neighbours who heard the boy’s cries banged on the door, together with the two children, and pleaded with Timah to set the victim free.
But their pleas did not save the boy until he managed to escape and dashed to the police station.
After the victim had told the police about his ordeal, Timah was arrested and charged with the offence of causing unlawful harm.
Court hearing On Friday, February 13, 2015, Timah was arraigned before the Gender-Based Violence Court in Accra.
The court, presided over by Ms Sedina Agbemeva, remanded Timah in police custody after the prosecuting officer, Inspector Kofi Atimbiri had told the court the facts of the case.
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