Man Beheads Boy

While pursuing his avowed aim to become rich overnight, a young man believed to be in his early 30s has found himself in the grip of the law for allegedly beheading an eight-year-old boy for ritual purpose. The suspect, Sumalia Yahaya, was arrested with the boy’s head at the residence of a spiritualist in Techiman last Friday afternoon.

Yahaya was at the residence of the spiritualist, Musah Bamba, to present the head for rituals (popularly called ‘sakawa’ or ‘sika aduro’) for him to become rich. According to the police, they were alerted by the spiritualist, who had been contacted by the suspect for the rituals. When the suspect was interrogated by the police, he initially told them that he had got the human head from a dead body that had been buried at Kuusu, a farming community in the Kintampo North municipality.

However, a search by the police at Kusuu revealed that no child at that age had been buried in the town. Yahaya later changed his story and told the police that someone in Apoma, farming community in the Kintampo South District, had given him the severed human head for the rituals. However, another search by the police in that town proved that no child had been beheaded.

According to the Kintampo Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Edmund Owusu Boampong, the suspect had mentioned one Alidu Wala as the one who had given him the human head at Apoma. Alidu is now at large. Supt. Boampong said further investigations were underway while arrangements were being made by the police to put the suspect before the Kintampo Magistrate court today.

Meanwhile the severed human head has been deposited at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital morgue.