Challenging Heights petitions minister over torture of 3-year-old girl
A human rights organisation, Challenging Heights, has issued an urgent petition to the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, demanding immediate and decisive action on the case of the torture of a three-year-old girl at Winneba.
The stepmother of the girl, identified only as Ms Akaina, a suspected Liberian national, poured boiling water into the child’s vagina as a punishment for bedwetting.
The girl is currently fighting for her life at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital in Winneba, while the alleged perpetrator is believed to have fled the country.
The act has left the little girl with life-threatening injuries, turning a simple childhood mishap into a scene of horror.
While the girl’s father has since been arrested by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), the primary suspect, Ms Akaina, remains at large.
Petition
In a petition signed by its founder, James Kofi Annan, Challenging Heights has taken full responsibility for the child’s medical care and is providing support to the biological mother, but the organisation is demanding more than just aftercare; it is demanding justice.
“To allow a person who commits such a heinous crime against an innocent child to walk free across a border simply would be an unforgivable failure of our duty to protect,” Mr Annan stated.
“This is not just about one child; it is a test of our nation’s soul. We are calling on the Gender Minister to use the full weight of her office to ensure this woman faces the consequences of her alleged actions.”
The petition makes three specific and urgent demands of the minister: to elevate the case within the Ghana Police Service, to liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and INTERPOL to trigger a cross-border investigation and extradition, and to use this horrifying case to address the rising tide of child abuse in Ghana.
Mr Annan, in the statement, said this alleged act was a flagrant violation of Ghanaian law, which unequivocally protects children from harm, stating that the Children's Act of 1998 (Act 560) explicitly defines a child's right to be protected from torture and degrading treatment and criminalises any act that causes harm to a child's health or development.
The statement said the alleged assault constituted a severe offence under the Domestic Violence Act of 2007 (Act 732), which defines such physical abuse within a domestic setting as a serious crime. Therefore, pursuing justice for this child is not just a moral imperative but a legal obligation that the state must fulfil without delay.
