A
military officer with the Ghana Armed Forces who has been allegedly having
sexual intercourse with his own daughter has been dragged before an Accra
Circuit Court.
Sergeant
Eric Asare-Mante is accused of sexually abusing his daughter since she was nine
years old – between 2013 and November 2018 when she turned 15.
His
modus operandi, according to police prosecutors, included shaving the pubic
hairs of his daughter and subsequently having sexual intercourse with her.
He is
alleged to have warned the victim not to reveal the incestuous affair to
anybody else she will risk dropping out of school.
Sgt.
Asare-Mante has been charged with two counts of defiling a child under the age
of 16 and incest, to which he pleaded not guilty.
His
lawyer pleaded with the court, presided over by Rita Abrokwa Doko, to grant him
bail pending the trial.
The
court, however, remanded him in custody until August 28 to decide on the bail
application.
Per the
facts of the case as presented by Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire, Sgt.
Asare-Mante between 2013 and November 2018 was living at Burma Camp in Accra
with the victim who is his biological daughter.
According
to him, the accused person had between the periods been having sexual
intercourse with the victim whenever he desired.
The
prosecutor told the court that Sgt. Asare-Mante after having sex with the minor
gave her “some tablets to take to prevent any pregnancy. The accused person
also threatened to let the victim discontinue her education if she disclosed
her ordeal to anyone.”
Chief
Inspector Atimbire narrated that the accused person last had sex with the
victim in November 2018 and the victim had since been resisting the dad anytime
he attempted having sex with her.
He said
in July 2019 the victim visited her grandmother after her Basic Education
Certificate Examination (BECE) and confided in her uncle, one Henry Asante, who
also informed the complainant, Rosemary Bosu, about the
victim’s ordeal.
The
matter was then reported to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit
(DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police and a medical form was issued for the victim to be
taken to the hospital.
Sgt. Asare-Mante was later arrested and put before court.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
