Court fines man who beat son to pulp for failing to set dinner table

A 48-year-old mason, who beat his 11–year- old son to a pulp with a metallic ladle because the son failed to set up a dinner table for him was on Wednesday fined Gh₵1,200 by the Accra Circuit Court.

The convict, Nii Akwei, will serve six months in prison if he fails to pay the fine.

Nii Akwei, per the prosecution’s narration, hit his son’s head repeatedly with the metallic ladle, injuring the son in the process to the extent that blood oozed out of the head.

He was fined by the court, presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of causing harm.

“Please forgive me”

The court gave the convict the opportunity to say something before passing sentence.

Nii Akwei said it was not his intention to beat his child, but he did it out of anger.

“I did it because I asked him to do something and he refused. I am really sorry so please forgive me,’’ he pleaded.

According to him, he was the one taking care of his three children, but the children’s mother normally comes his house to insult him, a situation that always makes him angry.

“Are you saying that anytime the mother comes and insult you, you will transfer your anger to the children?’’ the presiding judge asked him.

“You should know better”

Mrs Adjin-Doku then told the convict that as a 48-year-old man, he should know better, and use the appropriate ways to correct his children instead of causing them harm.

“When you were kid, did you also not disobey your parents? If that was how they treated you, would you have reached this age,’’ the presiding judge asked the visibly shaken Nii Akwei.

She then read the sentence with a stern warning to Nii Akwei not to ever engage in such an act.

“If you are brought here for such an offence, there will be no option of fine for you. You will go straight to prison,’’ she added.

Incident

The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire, informed the court that Nii Akwei resided with his three children at Ofankor, a suburb of Accra.

According to him, on February 4, 2018, at about 8:30pm, Nii Akwei sent his 11-year-old son to go and buy a sachet of water and also set table for dinner.

The prosecutor explained that the son went to buy water, but failed to set the table, and rather went out to play with his other siblings.

“Nii Akwei on seeing his son playing, got upset, called him to the room, picked a metallic ladle and hit his son’s head several times resulting into injuries on the scalp with blood oozing out,’’ he said.

Chief Inspeactor Atimbire said the 11-year-old boy could no longer endure the pain, so he run to a carpenter who also resided in the house for refuge.

The carpenter after seeing the injuries on the boy, took him to the Ofankor Police Station to lodge a complaint, where the boy was issued with a police medical form to visit the hospital for treatment.

The prosecutor said Nii Akwei was arrested the next day and charged with the offence of causing harm.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh