Deborah Ansah, an ice water seller, accused of stealing a three-month old baby girl at Avenor in Accra and sent her
to Achiansa Nubesu near Suhum in the Eastern Region, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The Circuit Court, however, ordered that Deborah, 19, should serve her sentence in a Juvenile Girls
Correctional Centre.
The court, presided over by Mrs Ruby Naa Adjeley Quaison convicted Deborah on her plea, and shown remorse of her offence.
She told the court, she won’t repeat the act, adding that, she did not know that it was an offence to steal somebody’s baby.
The court therefore, directed that, Deborah while serving her term at the Correctional Centre should be made to learn a trade of her choice, since she was unemployed and needs to learn a trade.
Deborah’s conviction came after the court ordered the Police to run checks on her background before the sentence.
Prosecuting, Detective Inspector Judith B. Asante said the complainant; Alhassan Aminatu, is unemployed and lives at Avenor with her husband and their three month old baby girl, where the convict also resides.
According to Inspector Asante, the complainant underwent a caesarean surgery to have her baby and, therefore, could not do things on her own.
Prosecution said the accused therefore, decided to offer assistance to the complainant by doing household chores for her.
On February 26, at about 1000 hours, the complainant after feeding her baby went to sleep, and left the convict and another who were playing Ludo game at the time.
Prosecution said, the convict took the complainant’s baby and told a neighbour that they were going to
the market.
When the complainant woke up, her baby was nowhere to be found and she reported the matter to the
police at Tesano, Accra.
During investigations, prosecution said, it came to light that Deborah took the baby to Achiansa Nubesu,
a village near Suhum, and informed her family that she had given birth.
Following a tip-off, prosecution said Deborah was arrested and, during investigations, she said she was being tormented by a spirit to have her dead baby replaced by the complainant’s daughter.
