My Lord the accused raped and robbed me - witness tells court

Amina Mahammud, a trader, told an Accra Circuit Court on Thursday that Joseph Allotey, a driver raped and robbed her in addition.

Joseph, who pleaded not guilty, was charged for robbing Amina of her Samsung Galaxy Note 4, worth GH¢2,900.00, an Infinix Hot Note, worth GH¢680.00, a gold chain worth, GH¢1,200.00 and an amount of GH¢700.00.

Amina, who was the first prosecution witness, said she was standing at Lapaz around the Las Pamas restaurant waiting for a cab, when the accused pulled up in a saloon car and offered her a lift.

She said: “My Lord I carefully watched him, while entering the car and he drove off and when we got to Santa Maria, I asked him to stop for me to alight but he refused.”

She said Joseph drove the car straight towards Mallam junction area and at a point she got scared and asked him again where he was driving towards.

“At another point, he stopped the car and when I struggled with him, he locked the car doors and pulled out a jack knife and threatened to kill me,” she added.

Amina also told the court that, the accused person started beating her in the car and after the beating, asked her to undress which she refused but that did not deter him nonetheless, he forcibly had sex with her.

“I begged him to let me go but he refused until he had his way through me, after that he ordered me to hand over my phones and other belongings, which I did,” Amina said in a tearful mood.

She said after the incident, the accused asked her to get down and run, which she did and got into a church building and coincidentally “a woman in a taxi cab came to my rescue.”

Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kweku Bempah earlier told the Court that the complainant is a trader residing at Darkuman, whilst Joseph is a driver with M-P Infrastructure Limited at East Legon.

He said on July 23, the complainant went to Guarantee Trust Bank at Lapaz and withdrew GH¢700.00 from the ATM machine.

He said after taking the money, she came to the roadside and was waiting for a taxi to go home, when Joseph drove to her and enquired if she needed a lift, which the complainant answered in the affirmative.

The prosecution said the accused person picked the complainant, who informed him that she would alight at Darkuman junction.

He drove her to Darkuman, locked the central lock and drove ahead to Mallam near Hill Grace Preparatory School.

He then pulled out a knife and subjected her to severe beatings and forcibly had carnal knowledge of her.

DSP Bempah said, after the act, Joseph robbed the complainant of the above listed items at knife point.

He said a complaint was lodged at the police station and the accused person was traced to his hideout at Nii Boi Town and was arrested.

He told the court that when Joseph was arrested he was using the complainant’s Infinix Hot Note.

A search in the car revealed the knife he used to commit the robbery and was identified by the complainant.

The prosecution said in his investigation caution statement, Joseph admitted the offence and, added that, he was pushed to commit the crime by the devil.