Six security men who are alleged to be at the centre of the barbaric treatment meted out to three women for allegedly shoplifting panties at Mr Price Clothing Store, located within the Accra Shopping Mall, have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, whose identities are yet to be given, have been charged with assault and are currently in police custody in Accra.
Earlier, the Manageress of Mr Price Clothing Store, Ms Roberta Nyametie, was invited for questioning and was, subsequently, released afterwards.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer at the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Freeman Tettey, said two of the security men were picked up on Wednesday night, and the other four yesterday.
Monday night incident
Three women, believed to be students of the University of Ghana, were last Monday night subjected to abusive treatments after staff of Mr Price Clothing Store caught them for allegedly shoplifting panties.
The three victims, whose names are yet unknown, were made to crawl on their knees for about 200 metres from the shop to the entrance of the mall, while excited onlookers used their smartphones to film the humiliation.
That was after the security men at post had asked the women whether they preferred to crawl or to be handed over to the police, to which they chose the former.
The victims were also made to pay for all the panties alleged to have been stolen and warned never to step foot on the premises of the shop again.
The video of the scene went viral on social media networks and blogs shortly after the incident. It shows a horrifying scene of the three suspects slowly crawling, while a crowd followed, heckling the women, calling them thieves and documenting the scene on numerous smartphones.
Why the arrest
DSP Tettey said although the three women were yet to make a formal complaint concerning their treatment at Mr Price Clothing Store, evidence gathered by the police were enough to proceed to make the arrest, since it contravened the laws of the country.
According to him, the police are making frantic efforts to locate the whereabouts of the three women to assist them to investigate the matter.
Asked what would happen to the security men who had been arrested, he said once investigations were completed and the suspects were found culpable, the law would be made to take its course.
CEO of Mr Price reaction
Meanwhile, the headquarters of Mr Price in South Africa has condemned the inhumane treatment meted out to the three women.
A statement issued by the Chief Executive Officer of Mr Price, Mr Stuart Bird, said the action taken by the shop in Accra was unacceptable and inhumane.
“We are conducting a thorough internal investigation into this matter, as well as awaiting a full account of the incident from our external security service provider about what happened, and appropriate action will be taken thereafter,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the law should have been allowed to take its course, adding that “irrespective of the fact that the women were shoplifting, we offer our sincere apologies that they were treated in this way by our service provider.”