Police arrest Sumpini chief, 4 others over attack on 50-yr-old woman

The Ghana Police Service has arrested five persons including the chief of Sumpini, Haruna Jebuni for their roles in the attack of a 50-year old woman accused of witchcraft in the Savannah region.

In a statement, the Police said the victim (name withheld) was attacked in her house with cutlasses and sticks on suspicion of her being a witch by the quintet which includes the 58-year-old chief.

The other suspects are Zakaria Abdul Karim (30 years), Shaibu Iddrisu (35years), Atta Alhassan (57 years) and Salugu Isahaku (alias Orulanaa aged 45 years).

The woman survived the attack and has been assisted to seek healthcare while the suspects are in custody awaiting arraignment for court.

"Police hereby cautions that any person(s) who takes the law into their hands would be arrested and dealt with according to law," the Police said in a statement on Sunday.

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Attack

The attack reportedly took place after the Bugum fire festival on Saturday, August 29 at Sumpini in the West Gonja District of the Savanna Region.

The victim was attacked by a group of men based on accusations that she is a witch.

She sustained injuries to her skull and legs and is on admission at the West Gonja District Hospital.

Similar attack

The attack comes less than two months after another woman 90-year-old Akua Denteh was lynched at Kafaba in the same region.

The Savannah Regional Police Command has forwarded the docket on the alleged murder of Denteh to the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office for advice.

The action by the police is to pave the way for committal proceedings to begin at the Bole District Magistrate Court on the next adjourned date of September 8, 2020, after the court, presided over by Mr Andrew Prince Cudjoe, had remanded into prison custody the seven persons accused of murdering the woman when they appeared before the court for the second time on Thursday, August 20, 2020.

The seven accused are Sirina Mohammed, 40, aka Alhajia, the supposed soothsayer who pronounced Ms Denteh a witch, and Latifah Bumaye, 33, the lady said to have flogged Ms Denteh, while accusing her of being responsible for the supposed lack of rainfall in the Kafaba community.

The rest are Haruna Aness, 34; Issifu Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Suleman Ali, 35, and Issifa Zakyibu, 32.

They were said to have invited a soothsayer to the Kafaba community to identify witches and exorcise them.

The seven were provisionally charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, respectively, but they were discharged by the court when they reappeared before it last Thursday.

They were, however, immediately re-arrested on the court premises and charged with murder.