Rapist jumps from storey building

Akyem Swedru, Sept. 20, GNA- A large crowd at the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court, last Wednesday watched in disbelief as a palm wine taper, charged with rape, jumped through the window of the one storey court room and fell to the ground unconscious.

Ebenezer Siaw, 36, the convict, was on trial for defiling a four-year-old girl.

Soon after the court presided over by Mr Edward Kwame Bosompem Apenkwah handed a 20-year jail sentence on Siaw, he jumped through the window and landed heavily on the ground.

He was immediately transported to the Akyem Oda Government hospital where is receiving medical treatment under police guard.

Police Chief Inspector Ben Osei Kwadwo, prosecuting had earlier told the court that Siaw was an employee of the victim's uncle.

He said the victim's mother sells food in a distillery shop, which shares a common boundary with the workshop of Siaw, where he also used as his residence at Akyem Asuom in the Kwaebibirem District. On September sixth at about 1230 hours, the victim and her mother visited the uncle and the little girl decided to play with her cousins. The prosecutor said later the victim informed the convict that she was feeling sleepy and he took her to his room with the pretext of putting her to bed.

He then took advantage of the situation and had sexual intercourse with her and later warned her not to reveal the ordeal to anyone or else she would die.

Three days later, the mother detected a change in her daughter as she refused to eat and her body temperature kept on rising. Mr Kwadwo said when the mother examined the girl's private part, she suspected that someone had defiled her and questioned the daughter who mentioned Siaw as the culprit.

A complaint was later made to the local police where Siaw was arrested and handed over to Divisional Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) at Akyem Oda.

Police medical report on the girl from the Akyem Oda Government hospital confirmed that she had been raped and was treated and discharged.