The trial of Sergeant Emmanuel Duah, now 47, only began in 2023, two years after he lured a 14-year-old girl into a newly built police post and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.
The incident happened at Ave-Xevi in the Akatsi North District in September 2021.
The convict is a police officer who was on duty at a police barrier a few meters away from the victim’s residence.
According to the victim’s aunt, at about 3:30 p.m. that day, the young girl had gone to fetch rainwater collected in a basin right in front of the newly constructed police post but was cynically dragged into the room by the police sergeant.
The victim was later spotted on a nearby cassava farm at about 5:45 p.m. and taken home for interrogation. Her aunt, with whom she lived, had searched for her upon her return to the house from the community but could not find her (the victim).
Upon hearing the girl’s narration, the aunt proceeded to the Ave-Dakpa police station to lodge a formal complaint. She was given a medical form to ensure the victim was examined and treated.
However, several months after the incident, the police remained silent on the issue, prompting EIB Network’s Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu to follow up with the Divisional Command at Sogakope.
The reporter would later pursue the case with a Right to Information (RTI) request to the Regional Police Command and the Attorney General’s office to push for the prosecution of the convict.
Prosecution
Prosecution finally began in February 2023 after the police officer was charged with defilement.
The prosecution, led by Ms. Enyonam Letsa, an Assistant State Attorney, told the court that Duah was arrested upon the initial complaint from the victim’s aunt but later granted a police inquiry bail.
The court heard that on October 12, 2021, the police visited the crime scene at Ave-Xevi, where the girl led investigators to the room where the accused had sex with her and demonstrated how he carried out the act on her on the floor.
The prosecution told the court that, during interrogation, Sergeant Emmanuel Duah told investigators he only held the girl’s hand and touched her breast but denied having sex with her.
Sergeant Emmanuel Duah, who appeared in court the first time, though two hours late and without counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
He was, however, granted bail in the sum of GHC50,000 with two sureties.
However, after a full trial that lasted more than a year, the Ho Circuit Court, presided over by His Honour Felix Datsomor, found Sergeant Emmanuel Duah guilty of the charge.
On Tuesday, March 26 2024, the court sentenced him to a 12-year jail term in hard labour.