The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Appeatu, has ordered
the immediate interdiction of the District Police Commander for Sefwi
Akontombra, DSP Dickson Obeng for ordering his men to assault a 14-year
old boy.
In a statement released by the Ghana Police Service and signed by the
Director General for Public Affairs, David Eklu, the IGP directed the
Western Regional Police Commander to constitute a team to investigate
the incident and report within two weeks.
The Police Service in the statement said the public will be updated on
the progress made by the team constituted to investigate the matter.
The District Police Commander in the Western Region, DSP Dickson Obeng,
has been accused of prescribing 36 lashes as a corrective measure for a
14-year-old class 6 pupil, Stanley Antwi of the St. James Anglican
Primary at Akontombra.
In photos making rounds on social media, Stanley is seen with marks of the physical assault at his back.
How it happened
Explaining the incident to Citi News, father of the boy who is a 36 year
old farmer, Enoch Tandoh said “I was in my farm when my wife called to
inform me that our children have returned from school, but Stanley is
bleeding at his back and so I should stop the farm work and help take
him to the hospital”.
“So I rushed home to see my children only to see my son Stanley with
severe marks of beatings on his back, his chest and parts of his
stomach. When I asked Stanley what happened, he said the District Police
Commander ASP Dickson Obeng, whose office is just behind their school,
ordered his men to whip him for fighting with one of his classmates
after school had closed.”
Mr. Tandoh continued that “I took my child, together with my wife to the
hospital, but we were told we have to produce a medical request form
from the police before they could take care of him. Knowing the
commander is the same person to eventually produce that, I reached out
to the District BNI officer. He came and insisted the hospital should
take care of him without further delay. He then assisted us to the
Commander”.
“When we got to the commander, he said my son was fighting with one of
his classmates but despite a call on him to stop, he refused so he
ordered his men to teach him a lesson”
“In fact, I got alarmed when he said all that is to be done is to look
for a northern region type of shea butter to apply and my boy will be
fine. This is where I don’t understand. But the BNI officer is assisting
me to seek justice for my son”.
According to Mr. Tandoh, people who witnessed the incident said “…he
[commander] first prescribed 20 lashes for his behaviour and got his men
to hold the hands and legs of my boy on a table. For every turn that he
makes whilst been whipped, whatever number within the 20 that he has
received will be discounted and started afresh. They did that to my son
until he received the 19 lashes. The first 17 lashes were discounted”.
MORE STORIES ON ##KASTL FM #CLICK DE LINK###
https://tunein.com/radio/unlimited-radio-s300325/
