General News of Sunday, 15 April 2018
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2018-04-15
The girl is held down as another man administers the lashes
Three brothers in Tamale have subjected their sister to a gruesome beating for coming home late, on the instruction of their father.
As punishment for her refusal to get home on time, the brothers, held her down and lashed her with what appeared to be a horsewhip, while a crowd looked on unconcerned.
Her lateness to the house was apparently a big disgrace to the family and therefore needed to be taught a lesson – a lesson that involved the crackling sound of a horsewhip landing on the back of a young girl.
A video of the horrifying plight of the girl has been shared on social media.
In the video, the older brother of the girl, who wields the whip, sends it down her back as she screams in pain and struggles to free herself from the grip of two others holding her down.
The two men, one holding tightly to her hands while the other holds her legs, have pinned her down to allow the ‘punisher’ to lash her without her resistance.
As she twists and wriggles in pain, a small crowd of onlookers who have gathered around her do not venture to rescue her.
When she’s finally free of their grip, one of the men, join in the beating, with another whip while kicking her on the floor.
The horrid scene is purportedly captured on camera by another sibling who laughs behind the camera while shooting the video.
Domestic violence is perpetuated in many homes in Ghana in the name of discipline and the offenders are rarely punished because they are usually the parents or relatives of the victims – as is the case in this video.
Violence against women from men is an exhausted topic in a society where patriarchal norms and perceptions of masculinity still support the persistence of certain gender norms.
Government agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) are tasked with the authority to ensure that these offences do not go unpunished in a society that is still grappling with security issues.
The home is supposedly the safest place for children but the hostility in this video shows otherwise.
No arrests had been made as of the time of publication of this story.