Girl, 19, murdered, body parts removed

Residents of Gomoa Lome in the Gomoa Central District in the Central Region were last Friday morning thrown into a state of disbelief when the body of a 19-year-old girl was found in a bush in the town.

The naked and lifeless body of the light skinned teenager who has been identified as Augustina Teye, alias ‘Adjoa Kelempe’ a resident of Desuenim, a suburb of Agona Swedru, was found lying in a pool of blood with several machete wounds on the body.

Her feet, wrists, buttocks and private parts had been removed with blood oozing from her nose and mouth. The body of the deceased had been left in a bush by the side of the road that links Gomoa Lome to Gomoa Sinbrofo and connects to the main Accra-Cape Coast highway.

Deceased lured

It is believed that the perpetrator(s) of the heinous crime might have lured the young girl from Agona Swedru and murdered her in the bush under the cover of darkness last Thursday night to prevent them from being traced.

The blue and yellow dress and the slippers she was wearing at the time of the incident were found lying close to her lifeless body.

The flattened grass and disturbed earth suggest that she struggled with her attacker(s) before her death.

An inspection of her body showed that some of her body parts had been removed by her assailants who it is believed cut them for use in rituals.

The deceased was an orphan and left behind a four-year-old daughter who is living with her grandmother at Mantemankabi, also a suburb of Agona Swedru.

When news of the victim’s death broke, some of her peers at Desuenim, Ankyease, Salem, Assissim, Mangoase, all suburbs of Swedru, were dismayed and were seen gathered in groups in discussion over the matter.

Pregnancy

Information the Daily Graphic gathered indicated that the deceased was a pupil of the St James the Apostle Anglican Basic School in Agona Swedru who dropped out of school when she became pregnant.

It is said that after she had delivered, the Mothers Union of the St James Anglican Church enrolled her back into school but she dropped out again because she wanted to learn a trade.

With support from ‘Give to Eat’, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based at Agona Nkum, she was consequently registered with a sewing concern but she insisted she preferred to learn hairdressing instead.

She was last seen on Thursday, August 27, by her friends only for news to reach them the following morning that she has been murdered and her body dumped in a bush.

Confirmation

Confirming the incident in an interview last Saturday, a former Assembly Member for the Gomoa Lome Electoral Area, Mr. Emmanuel Akyer, said some residents of the community who were on their way to their farm came across the body and raised an alarm.

He said news of the incident quickly went viral and attracted hundreds of people who rushed to the scene to see things for themselves as well as to verify if the deceased was a member of the community.

He explained that the residents who thronged the scene to catch a glimpse of the deceased could not fathom why the perpetrators killed the young woman.

He said the Ghana Police Service at Gomoa Dawurampong was informed of the incident.

The body of the deceased has meanwhile been conveyed to the St. Luke Catholic Hospital at Apam for autopsy.