Crime & Punishment of Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Chinese national slapped with 2 additional charges for slashing the throat of Ghanaian worker

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A manager of Poly Changda Engineering Company, Xue Hui, has been slapped with two additional charges after he was accused of slashing the throat of a Ghanaian employee, Isaac Boateng. The police prosecutors have now filed charges on the use of an offensive weapon and causing harm against Xue Hui, in addition to the attempted murder charge initially filed. According to the Daily Guide newspaper, the Poly Changda manager pleaded not guilty to the two charges when he appeared before the court on Tuesday and was granted bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 to reappear on November 22, 2022. The court granted the bail after the lawyer for the accused, Akpene Darko Cobbinah, argued that the charges against his client were bailable. Darko Cobbinah also described the facts of the case by the prosecution as inaccurate because his client did not intentionally slash the throat of the victim. The judge then directed that the case be moved from the Sekondi District Court, where the committal proceedings began, to the Takoradi Circuit Court A for a full trial. Isaac Boateng, a Ghanaian machine operator, reportedly suffered deep knife wounds after his throat was slashed by his Chinese employer at Kweikuma in the Sekondi-Takoradi Municipality. According to a report by 3news.com, sighted by GhanaWeb, the Chinese national is a senior in a company contracted to erect structures close to the apartments of the Ghana Navy flats. An eyewitness account disclosed the incident occurred while workers of the company were demanding the payment of their salaries. "We have worked for the whole month, and our salaries had not been paid, so we had a meeting and asked our Chinese employer why we had not been paid. One of our colleagues went to the Chinese boss to find out what was wrong with the salaries because we have families and we also owe some people. "In the heat of the argument, the Chinese boss pulled a flick knife and slashed the throat of our colleague. He has incurred deep wounds; blood traces could be seen everywhere. He has been rushed to the Effiankwanta Hospital, and we pray he will survive," Boat, who is also a Ghanaian employee of the company, alleged. He disclosed that the local workers numbering about 80, were protesting in demand of their GH¢18 accumulated daily wage. "Some military [officers] intervened and calm was restored later, but the foreigner who committed the crime is still walking around. We are in pain and demand justice for our brother. We are about eighty workers here, and they pay each of us GH¢18 a day for the tedious construction work we are doing here," he added. Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: IB/SEA