Rapist shaves his victim?s pubic hair

By Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa

It was not easy to tell the emotions of those in the courtroom, when the visibly agitated and angry young woman screamed,?where is my pubic hair, where is my pubic hair??, at the man who allegedly sedated her, shaved her pubic hair and sexually assaulted her. When the 29-year-old woman, who is a trader, approached a herbalist, Yaw Dankwah, alias Wofa, to assist her retrieve her lost money, she least dreamt that she would wake up in his consulting room, naked and her pubic hair clean shaven. The trader did not only suffer that humiliation but the object of her mission ? the retrieval of her lost money was also not realised. Dankwah who pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape has been granted a ?10 million bail, with one surety, by an Accra community tribunal.

Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Yartey Tawiah told the tribunal, chaired by Mr Kwadwo Owusu, that on August 25, the victim consulted Dankwah, a self-acclaimed traditional priest, to solicit his help to retrieve her lost money. Dankwah, according to the prosecution, demanded certain items, including needles and fishing hooks to enable him perform some rituals that would lead to the recovery of the lost money. The prosecutor said, the victim provided the items and Dankwah asked her to return the following day.

On August 27, the victim got to the shrine at exactly 7.00pm. On her arrival, Dankwah performed some rituals and after reciting some incantations assured her that she would surely recover her money and that the person who took it would be seriously ill. Dankwah further told the victim that the person who took her money lives with her in the same house and that the person would come and confess to her.

Later, Dankwah asked the victim to get ready for the final ritual to be performed. He then mixed some concoction, sipped a little and gave the rest to the victim to drink. Soon after drinking the concoction, the victim felt dizzy and fell into a deep sleep. The prosecutor said at about 8.00 pm, the victim woke up, feeling weak, and noticed that she was naked with her panties and underskirt lying on the floor and her cloths hanging on a trap door.

The victim also noticed that her pubic hair and the hair on her head had been shaved. Dankwah was also alleged to have inserted some concoction into her private parts, making her extra weak.

The victim managed to go home and informed her husband about the ordeal. He helped her to the Tesano Police to make a formal report. The prosecutor said a medical form was issued to the victim to attend hospital. The case was later transferred to the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service for further investigations.

On September 8, Dankwah was arrested for interrogation. The prosecutor said, even though Dankwah admitted the fact that the victim consulted him for his services and also confessed shaving the victim?s pubic hair and the hair on her head, he denied raping her. The case is still under investigation.