A thirty two year old mother of four is struggling to recover from a harrowing ordeal of being stripped naked and subjected to vaginal search in public at Kumasi Kejetia.
An acquaintance who accused the second-hand clothes dealer of stealing 800 Ghana cedis ordered and supervised a mob to visit such dehumanizing acts on her.
It turned out later that the man had left the money at home.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has waded into the matter in an attempt to get justice for the distressed woman.
The woman, name withheld for obvious reasons, boarded a vehicle with Augustine Brefo a cold store operator from Offinso to Kumasi on the fateful day.
Upon reaching their destination, the man complained his money was missing, and accused the woman who sat close to him onboard the vehicle of stealing the money.
After a search in the lady’s purse gave no clue of finding the money, Augustine raised alarm which attracted a charged mob, threatening to lynch her.
According to the woman, her denial and plea to be taken to the nearby Kejetia police station to report the alleged theft fell on deaf ears.
Augustine and his accomplices heeded nothing but the demand for his money. They led her to the front of a nearby public toilet and forced her to strip down all her cloths.
After stripping, the woman was asked to set her legs apart to reveal her genitals to ensure she had not inserted the money in her vagina.
The genital search did not satisfy Augustine, who is also a Pentecost deacon; he allegedly forced the helpless woman to invoke curses if indeed she was innocent: she obliged by calling four river deities to invoke the curse.
However, two Good Samaritans finally rescued the woman and escorted her to the Offinso Lorry Station after the incident was reported to the Kejetia police and Augustine was arrested.
Luv News investigations have revealed that Augustine had apparently forgotten the money and his mobile phone at home.
The victim says his wife confirmed this to her whilst she was still in a vehicle on her way back to Offinso just after she had been rescued.
According to her, Augustine’s wife actually apologized for her husband’s action.
Augustine has been granted police enquiry bail.
Two weeks after the ordeal, the lady looks physically dispirited, as she struggled to get over her near death.
Meanwhile, commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has condemned the act, and has vowed to ensure justice for the victim.