The teen lovers who were whipped by the General Overseer of the International God’s Way Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim, before a congregation are happy that their guardian meted out such corporal punishment to them, the bishop’s aide Joseph Oppong Brenya has claimed.
According to him: “The children themselves on Friday said they were very happy Bishop did that to them because he had really punished them and for that matter they would not do such a thing again.” Bishop Obinim has come under heavy criticism on social media for flogging the teenagers with a belt.
On the videotape that captured the flogging, Bishop Obinim kept chastising and asking the young lovers if they were “stupid”.
Questioned by Prince Minkah on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Monday, 22 August if the action of the bishop did not constitute an abuse of the teens’ rights, Mr Brenya indicated that to the contrary “the victims believed he [Bishop Obinim] loved them; that is why he punished them”.
Meanwhile, Bishop Obinim will, on Tuesday, 23 August, honour the invitation extended to him by the Domestic Violence and Victims’ Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Mr Oppong further revealed.
He said Bishop Obinim was a law-abiding citizen who would not call the bluff of the police or disrespect any law enforcement agency. After failing to honour an invitation by the police, the law enforcement agency consequently declared Bishop Obinim wanted.
The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection reported the founder and leader of the International God’s Way Church to the Accra regional office of DOVVSU last week for publicly flogging two teenagers in his church for fornication.
“We have been informed that the police have commenced investigations into the matter and a complaint has also been filed against him [Obinim] at the Tema Regional Police. We will keep you posted on further developments,” sector minister Nana Oye Lithur said in a Facebook post.
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