General News of Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Source: citifmonline.com
2017-12-19
Rabih Haddad
The legal team for the Lebanese resident in Ghana, Rabih Haddad, who is alleged to have raped his 19-year-old Ghanaian house help, has mounted a strong defence for their client, claiming he was not present in the house on the day of the said incident.
According to the lawyers, led by Ralph Opoku Adusei, their client had an alibi who could verify his whereabouts on the day of the incident.
Mr. Adusei made this revelation during a court proceeding where they sought to secure bail for their client.
Per the facts, as presented by the prosecution, the 19-year-old house help was employed by Haddad and his wife in November 2017.
According to them, since she moved into the house, Haddad had been pestering her for sex.
They claimed that Haddad had lured the house help into one of the bedrooms and tried having sexual intercourse with her when his wife and other occupants of the house had gone out.
Her attempts to resist his advances reportedly infuriated Haddad, who slapped her and then struck her neck after which he dragged her to the bed and forcibly had sex with her.
Alleged victim speaks
The alleged victim, who speaks only Ewe and French, said the suspect beat her after his apparent displeasure with the coffee she had prepared for him.
According to the victim, who spoke to Citi News at the police station, he then dragged her to a bedroom and raped her.
She added that, he slapped her twice in her face before finally overpowering her.
It was also reported earlier in December that, Rabih Haddad, was on oxygen support at the Ridge hospital.
Former AG to serve as victim’s lawyer
Ghana’s former Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, stepped in to represent the alleged victim.
Mrs. Appiah-Oppong told Citi News she was keenly following the case, and expressed some satisfaction with the course of the investigations so far, and said she will ensure justice is served.
“We are fortunate to have caught this one early so that the investigation can be done properly. Very often, by the time we become aware of a situation like this, time has elapsed, evidence is lost and it becomes very difficult to follow up on it. That is why we are very keen to follow up on this one to make sure that the proper investigation and proper prosecution is also done,” Mrs. Appiah-Oppong said.
The police administration has said they will put forward a strong case to ensure justice is served.
