Two men who defiled a 14-year-old girl resulting in her getting pregnant were yesterday sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment in hard labour by the Cape Coast Circuit Court.
Kwame Tawiah, 27, and Kwaku Yeboe, 29, both of whom have wives, will serve 12 and eight years respectively after they were found guilty of defilement by the court, presided over by Ms Dorinda Smith Arthur.
The girl is currently six months pregnant.
The prosecution led evidence to prove that the two men who were neighbours of the victim, defiled her on separate occasions.
Tawiah defiled her eight times and Yeboe twice.
Consent is immaterial
During the trial, the convicts presented a defence that they did not force the girl and that at all times, the sex was consensual.
However, the judge dismissed the defence and held that per Section 101 of the Criminal and Offences Act,1960 (Act 29), consent was immaterial in defilement cases.
The court was also of the considered view that evidence on record showed that the girl gave in to the sexual encounters because of blackmail and threat of death by the convicts.
In passing sentence, Ms Arthur took into consideration the fact that the two were married men with children.
She, however, said it was important to hand them a sentence that would serve as a deterrent due to the increasing level of defilement in the Central Region and the country at large.
Appreciation
After the sentence, a human rights lawyer and activist, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, who represented the girl and watched brief for her throughout the trial, praised the court for adjudicating on the case as quickly as possible and ensuring that justice was served.
He revealed to the court that he was working in conjunction with the Department of Social Welfare and other relevant institutions to ensure the welfare of the girl.
Kwame Tawiah’s case
The prosecutor, Sergeant Iddrisu Yakubu, told the court that the complainant was the father of the victim.
He said Tawiah was a taxi driver, who resided in the same house as the girl and her father.
According to him, some time in 2018, Tawiah’s wife sent the girl to accompany him (Tawiah) to buy pork for her.
When the girl sat in the taxi, Tawiah sped off to a section of the road and stopped at a dark place, where he took off her panties and defiled her.
Tawiah, the prosecutor said, defiled the girl again on February 3, 2019 during the absence of his wife. It was followed by other bouts of sexual intercourse.
“After every act, Tawiah warned the girl not to inform her parents or his wife or else he would teach her a bitter lesson,” the prosecutor added.
On February 12, 2019, the girl, who could no longer bear the situation, narrated her ordeal to her father, who also reported the matter to the police.
Kwaku Yeboe
In the case of Yeboe, Sergeant Yakubu said he lived in the same vicinity as the girl.
He said the girl normally went to his room to watch a popular telenovela.
According to the prosecutor, in December 2018, the victim went to Yeboe’s room with her brother to watch the telenovela, but Yeboe intentionally sent the boy on an errand.
“Yeboe took advantage of her being alone, pushed her onto his bed and defiled her,” the prosecutor said.
He added that the girl reported the matter to her father the same day she reported Tawiah’s actions.
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