Mary Timah has been sentenced to six years.

Woman jailed 6 years for causing harm to son, 14

Victor Kwawukume Feb - 28 - 2015 , 08:58

The Accra Circuit Court yesterday sentenced Mary Timah, the 40-year-old trader who burnt her 14-year-old son with a hot electric iron, to six years in prison.

The Presiding Judge, Mrs Rita Agyemang Budu, said the penalty for her offence of unlawfully causing harm should have been a 10-year prison term.

She said, however, the victim had written a letter to the court asking it to temper justice with mercy since the absence of his mother was affecting him adversely.

The court, she said, therefore, took the petition of the boy into consideration in mitigating the 10-year sentence to six.

Unconscionable action

In passing the sentence, the judge told the woman that at the point where she was hurting the boy with the hot iron and the boy kept screaming in pain, she should have re-considered her actions.

But her persistence in continuing to inflict harm on the boy was unconscionable.

As soon as the sentence was pronounced, tears started flowing from the eyes of both mother and son.

The convict placed her hands on her head in agony.

Outside the courtroom, the boy appeared quite traumatised as some family members accused him of being the cause of his mother’s woes.

Emotional moments

He stood in a corner with his arms folded and his head bowed as tears fell from his eyes.

His father, who stood close by, appeared lost in thought, heaving sighs and occasionally rubbing his hand over his head.

After the proceedings, Mary Timah sat in court looking withdrawn, her eyes reddened by the tears she had shed as she awaited the processing of documents to commence her six-year jail term.

Family members and friends who had gathered outside the court discussed the jail term, describing it as too harsh.

Facts of the case

The prosecutor’s case was that on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at about 8p.m., the victim was at home with his two siblings when their mother returned from her trading activities.

“When she came home, she realised that her wardrobe had been broken into and an amount of GH¢20 she had kept there was missing,” said the teary-eyed boy.

He said his mother immediately accused him of stealing the money and asked him to return it if he wanted to live peacefully with her.

“No matter how much I tried to convince my mother that I had not taken the money, she insisted the money was with me so I should produce it.”

Angry Timah was said to have locked her son up in the room while the other two waited outside.

While she was alone with her son, she tried to get him to produce the money but the boy stood his ground.

When all efforts such as beating the boy to “tell the truth” failed, Timah was said to have tortured him with an electric iron which was plugged into a source of power.

The boy claimed his mother first placed the hot electric iron on his wrists and while he was screaming for help, she positioned it on his face and neck.

Escape

The siblings and some neighbours who heard the cry of the boy banged on the door and pleaded with Timah to set the victim free.

But their pleas did not save the boy until he managed to escape from the barbaric act and dashed to the police station.

After the victim told the police his ordeal, Timah was arrested and charged with the offence of causing unlawful harm.