The 36-year-old police officer, who allegedly defiled a nine-year-old girl, has denied inserting his finger into the victim’s vagina.
Opening his defence last Wednesday before an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah-Datsa, the accused person, Corporal Steve Selassie Ahlijah, rebuffed all the accusations leveled against him by the victim.
According to the accused person, the only period the victim came to his house was when she was sent twice by the complainant on different occasions to collect some items from him, noting that he did not allow the victim to enter his room.
He further noted that the only period the victim entered his room was when she accompanied the complainant and detectives to his house to arrest him.
Cpl Ahlija also told the court that the complainant had informed him that her daughter (victim) had been defiled before, and under the circumstances he advised her to send the victim to the hospital, but the complainant did not pay heed, but rather decided to send her to the grandmother’s place.
The accused person subsequently, indicated that after a month, the complainant approached him again, and told him that the victim had been experiencing abdominal pains, and that she suspected someone in the neighbourhood had been having sex with her.
“But, I again, advised that the victim should be taken to the hospital,” the accused person told the court.
He, therefore, refuted the allegation that he took the victim away in his car without the complainant’s knowledge.
According to the accused person, he sought permission from the complainant before he took victim to the main junction, where he was going to buy some items.
The case has been adjourned December 13, 2011 for continuation.
The accused person is currently facing the charge defilement, contrary to section 10 (2) of act 26/60 as amended by section 11 of act 554/98. He pleaded not guilty to the charge leveled against him before the court, presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah Datsa.
The facts of the case are that on December 24, 2010, at about 10:00 p.m., the accused person visited the complainant at her shop near her house, and took the victim in his BMW saloon car and drove off.
According to the prosecutor, Chief Inspector, I.A.A. Ahor, the accused person went and bought a bottle of Vita Milk for the victim to drink, adding that after drinking, the accused person drove away and parked along the road.
The prosecutor further told the court that the accused person then had sexual intercourse with the victim in his car, and thereafter took her to the complainant.
“Since then, the complainant noticed a slow movement in the victim’s walking, and her frequent complaints of abdominal pain. The complainant became alarmed, and when she questioned the victim of her abdominal pains, she mentioned the name of the accused person,” the prosecutor noted.
He mentioned that the complainant then reported the matter to the police Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), where a police medical report form was issued to the complainant to send victim to hospital for examination and treatment.