Police to investigate murder at Psychiatric hospital

Police in Accra are investigating an incident in which an inmate of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital strangled another inmate to death on Saturday night.

Akua Pokua, 27, who was admitted only about a week ago at the facility, allegedly strangled Charlotte Nyarko, 35, with a piece of cloth until she died.

She also pounced on another inmate and caused severe injuries to her eyes and head.

Another inmate escaped but remains severely injured in the head.

Chief Psychiatrist, Dr. Akwasi Osei has attributed the incident to unavailability of drugs and insufficient personnel to manage the facility.

“We are trying as much as possible to decongest the ward to get more medicine to be able to calm them down and also we are mobilizing more personnel to the aggressive ward” Dr. Osei said.

“We are not getting medicine from the ministry so we have to purchase from the private sources or the open market to be able to calm them down and manage them better than we are doing now”.

The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital pending autopsy while the injured inmate is responding to treatment at the Ridge Hospital.