22-year-old herbalist remanded for defiling girl, 11

A 22-year-old herbalist who allegedly defiled an 11-year-old girl at his shrine at Gbayamili, near Tamale in the Northern Region has been remanded in prison custody.

The mother of the girl had sought the assistance of the herbalist, Adam Arafat, to cure her daughter of an ailment but he ended up allegedly defiling her.

The victim, who is said to have bled from her private parts and unable to walk after the act, is on admission at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH).

Charges

The Northern Regional Coordinator of the  Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Emmanuel Holortu, who made this known to the Daily Graphic in Tamale yesterday, said the suspect was charged with defilement and sent to court to be remanded until the victim was discharged from hospital for the case to continue.

DSP Holortu said the herbalist had advertised his work in the media and added his phone numbers in order for people to contact him for help, and that was how the mother of the victim was able to reach him.

He said after the mother contacted the suspect on phone, she travelled with the girl from Bawku in the Upper East Region to see the herbalist to cure her.

DSP Holortu stated that the victim and her mother arrived in Tamale from Bawku about 9 p.m. on February 10, 2020 and called the suspect who met them at the lorry station. He then hired a tricycle, popularly known as ‘yellow yellow’, for them to follow him while he rode on his motorbike to his shrine at Gbayamili where they lodged that night.

He said the following day, the suspect asked the mother of the victim to go and buy a bottle of Schnapps to enable him to prepare some concoctions for them for the treatment of the ailment.

The DOVVSU commander said immediately the mother left the shrine, the herbalist forcibly had sex with the victim and warned the girl not to tell anybody about the act or else she would die.

DSP Holortu added that when the victim's mother returned with the bottle of Schnapps, Arafat prepared the concoction for them, but when the woman and her daughter left the shrine, the former realised that the girl could not walk well.

When she asked the girl why that was so, the victim told the mother that she was sexually assaulted by Arafat when she (mother) left them.

The girl, the DOVVSU commander said, further told her mother that she bled from her private parts after the act.

Complaint

DSP Holortu said the mother lodged a complaint at the police station and the suspect was arrested.

He stated that the victim, who could not walk then, was sent to the TTH for medical attention.

He said after investigations, the suspect was charged with the offence.