Acid woman’ hauled before court

A 27-year-old woman who entered her husband’s girlfriend’s bedroom and allegedly poured acid on her has been hauled before the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court.

Vida Brakoaa, the accused, who is six months pregnant, has been granted a GH¢10,000 bail, with two sureties to be justified.

The accused, who pleaded not guilty to unlawfully causing harm, will reappear before the court, presided over by Mr. Alexander Oworae, on September 11, this year.

Victim battles for her life

The victim, Ms. Patience Amalor, 30, who lost an eye in the incident, along with severe burns all over her head, face, breasts and other parts of her body, is battling for her life at the Oda Government Hospital.

Facts

The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Abraham Sackey, were that about 8:30 p.m. on July 28, this year, Brakoaa’s husband had a phone call from Ms. Amalor, and after a short conversation with her, he drove his private car to her residence at Nkwa Na Ehia, a suburb of Oda.

No sooner had he left the house than Brakoaa took acid which was in a container and followed him in a taxi to know the residence of her rival.

On reaching Amalor’s house, he knocked on the door, and just as he was about to enter the room, he had a phone call and waited behind the door to listen to the call.

Brakoaa, who was tracing the husband without his knowledge, suddenly entered Amalor’s bedroom and poured the acid on her while she was relaxing on her bed.

The accused fled the scene as soon as the victim began to scream for help, which attracted the boyfriend and other occupants of the house, who rushed Amalor to the Oda Government Hospital, where she was admitted.

Brakoaa’s husband lodged a complaint at the Oda Police Station about the incident.

Tough time for police

A team of policemen, led by Detective Corporal Yakubu Mohammed, who went to arrest Brakoaa at her Oda SDA Junction residence had to lie in wait until 2 p.m. the next day when they got her, as she was hiding at an obscure place in her husband’s self-contained apartment.

When Brakoaa was first put before the court on July 30 she pleaded not guilty to the offence and told the judge that she was six months pregnant.

The court made an order for a pregnancy test the very day, which proved positive, and she was remanded in police custody for the police to conduct further investigations into the matter. The case was adjourned to August 24.

When the accused reappeared in court with counsel on August 24, she was granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000, with two sureties, due to her pregnancy, and the case adjourned again to September 11.