Three suspects have been arrested by police for allegedly stealing a baby in Kasoa in the Central Region.
The suspects feigned the death of the baby and took her to Ablekuma in the Greater Accra Region.
The suspects, Magdalene Nana Adwoa Boafo, 28, Faustina Binney, 32, and Eunice Koomson, a 36-year-old teacher at Ebenezer High Academy, a private basic school in Ofaakor, Kasoa, are currently in the custody of the Kasoa Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) assisting in investigations.
According to information gathered by Kasapa News Yaw Boagyan, Adwoa Boafo, regarded as the prime suspect, approached the mother of the baby, who sold water in traffic at Ofaakor in the Kasoa municipality during her eighth month of pregnancy, and offered to assist her financially.
She later introduced her to the other two suspects, Eunice and Faustina, who pretended to be offering genuine support.
To cover up their intentions, the suspects relocated the mother from Ofaakor-Jei River, where she lived, and rented an apartment for her at Lamptey, a suburb of Adam Nana, also in Kasoa, and continued to offer small forms of support until she delivered at the Kasoa Polyclinic.
But things took a twisted turn just after the mother, 29-year-old Abigail Addison, and the baby, who was in a healthy condition, were discharged.
The three suspects introduced another woman to Abigail, claiming that she was a medical staff member at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra and that it was recommended for the toddler to be taken there for treatment due to some infections, a ruse the new mother fell for.
However, the three suspects returned to the victim two days later and, amidst uncontrollable weeping, announced to the mother that the baby had died at Korle-Bu and was already buried.
The landlord of the victim, who spoke to Kasapa News, says he became suspicious of their actions and reported the matter.
In collaboration with the Kasoa DOVVSU commander DSP Doris Laryea, the lead suspect, Nana Adwoa, was arrested. Nana Adwoa had questionably resigned from her workplace, Norberto Laundry Services in Ofaakor, which was the only place the victim could trace her.
At her arrest, she initially insisted that the toddler was dead.
Upon further interrogation, however, she admitted the baby was alive and with her sister at Madina.
She later changed her statement, saying the baby was with the second suspect, Eunice, at Alico City, a suburb of Ofaakor.
Eunice, after she was arrested through painstaking investigations, also mentioned the third suspect, Faustina Binney, a resident of Ablekuma, as having custody of the toddler. Faustina was also subsequently arrested.
The victim, who has become traumatized as a result of the events, wants the suspects punished for their actions.
She explains how difficult it was for her to accept the news about the demise of her child, saying it caused her psychological distress.
Cases of child theft, abuse, and in some instances abandonment, killing, and other forms of domestic crime continue to be recorded in Kasoa and surrounding areas, placing a heavy task on the DOVVSU.
However, the regional DOVVSU command lacks essential logistics, despite DSP Laryea and her team’s commitment to fighting crime.
Currently, the command, which deals with such voluminous cases, has no vehicle for operations. It also lacks juvenile cells, comfortable interview rooms for children, and even facilities for traumatized and psychologically disturbed victims.
A concerned member of the Lamptey community, in an interview in the wake of the arrest of the suspects, called on the police administration and government to support the Kasoa DOVVSU, considering the critical role they play.
Source: Kasapafmonline.com