I inflicted machete wounds on my husband in self-defence - Wife tells court

The 28-year-old woman who was recently arrested for inflicting multiple machete wounds on her husband during a confrontation at Nkumkwaa, a village near Agona Duotu in the Central Region says she did that to defend herself.

According to Mary Quaye, a nursing mother, she did not intend to inflict the machete wounds on her husband Abraham Acquah but she did it in retaliation after he hit her with wood in the course of a misunderstanding.

Mary had returned to the village in the Agona East District from Accra, and according to her, the husband, Abraham told her that he wanted a split.

She indicated she was unperturbed about Abraham’s surprising stance, noting that “on that fateful day, my husband left home around 3 pm only to return around 12 am the following day".

She stated that upon Abraham’s return, he laid his bed but went to sleep under a makeshift structure outside the room which surprised her, stressing “I went to call him to come and sleep in the room but it infuriated him resulting in a misunderstanding between us”.

She stated that: “In the course of the misunderstanding between us, Abraham went out of the room, picked a wood and hit me with it twice and that in defending myself, I also pulled the machete on his blind side and inflicted multiple wounds on his neck and other parts of his body”.

Related: Wife inflicts multiple cutlass wounds on husband

Accused’s explanation

Mary was explaining the reason behind her action after pleading guilty with explanation when she appeared before the Swedru Circuit Court presided over by Justice Jonathan Desmond Nunoo.

She has been charged with causing harm contrary to section 69 of the criminal offences Act.

She told the court that after returning to the village from Accra, Abraham told her that he wanted a split but she was unperturbed about Abraham’s surprising stance, noting that “on that fateful day, my husband left home around 3 pm only to return around 12 am the following day".

She stated that upon Abraham’s return, he laid his bed but went to sleep under a makeshift structure outside the room which surprised her, stressing “I went to call him to come and sleep in the room but it infuriated him resulting in a misunderstanding between us”.

She explained in the course of the misunderstanding, Abraham hit her with a wood twice and she also in self-defence pulled a machete and inflicted multiple machete wounds on him and he screamed, attracting neighbours to the scene.

Change of plea

The presiding judge after listening to Mary’s explanation changed her plea from guilty with explanation to not guilty which now puts the burden of proof on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Subsequently, the accused was admitted to bail in the sum of GH₵10,000 with two sureties and the case adjourned to May 25, 2021 for hearing to continue.

Facts

Presenting the facts earlier, the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Isaac Amon said that Abraham Acquah is a farmer and lives at Nkumkwaa, a village near Agona Duotu while Mary Quaye, popularly known as Obaa Yaa is a nursing mother and unemployed.

He noted that the accused and the victim have been married for the past eight years with two children. The couple formerly lived together at Nkumkwaa but moved to Awutu Bawjiase for some time.

He said that the victim later returned to the village leaving behind Mary and the children. Later, accused left for Accra in search of job but was unsuccessful and had to return but had information that Abraham was seeing another woman, hence his inability to cater for the children.

He stated that on April 23, 2021, the accused arrived in the village but realised that the victim was not giving her the needed attention, saying “on April 25, 2021, at about 3 pm, the victim left the village only to return late in the night but decided to sleep under a shed outside the room".

He stressed that the victim felt neglected which resulted in a misunderstanding and in the course of it she picked a machete and inflicted wounds on several parts of the victim’s body and left him in a pool of blood.

He added that the victim shouted for help which attracted neighbours to the scene who rushed him to the Salvation Army Polyclinic at Agona Duakwa but was referred to the Swedru Government Hospital.

“Accused reported herself to the Police who was arrested, admitted the offence, charged and arraigned before court,” Chief Inspector Amon said.