Forty-year-old woman arrested for abortion

Manfo (Ash), Aug 16, GNA- Akua Oparebea, a 40 year old farmer and mother of six has been arrested by the police at Manfo near Tepa for using some herbs to terminate her seven-month-old pregnancy and burying the foetus in a cocoa farm.

According to the police, the suspect has been granted bail because of ill health, and would be put before court soon.

Briefing newsmen at Manfo on Sunday, Inspector Mohammed Luri Batong, Station Officer in-charge of Manfo police, said on July 25 this year, Kwabena Rashid, the fianc=E9e of the suspect, became suspicious of Oparebea's pregnancy when he observed her physical condition and questioned her but she refused to explain anything to him. Not satisfied with the strange behaviour of his lover, Rashid reported the matter to Nana Osei Ababio, chief of Mfanibu in the Ahafo-Ano North District in Ashanti, who summoned the suspect to his palace.

Inspector Luri said after interrogations by the chief and his elders, the suspect confessed committing the crime and led them to a spot in a cocoa farm where she had buried the foetus for three days. The chief then reported the case to the police who went exhume the foetus, which was completely decomposed. According to Inspector Luri, the suspect who is a widow with six children said she did that because of poverty and the fact that the man responsible for her pregnancy may not be able to take care of her children in addition to a new baby.