Human Rights lawyer, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo
Human Rights lawyer, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, has accused the Police of unprofessionalism regarding how they handled the news about the 28-year-old Takoradi woman Josephine Panyin Mensah who was found a few days after reportedly going missing.
She noted that there are inconsistencies in the narrative put out by the Police regarding this matter.
Earlier, official complaints lodged by Panyin Mensah’s husband at the police station on Friday, September 17, indicated that she was heavily pregnant and had been kidnapped.
But after being found at Tolanu, a suburb of Axim, exactly five days later, she was without her supposed nine-month pregnancy.
This heightened fears about the turpitude of her alleged kidnappers in the Western Region.
The Ghana Police Service has announced that Panyin Mensah has pleaded not to be prosecuted after confessing she was not pregnant and not kidnapped.
The Police in a statement on Friday, September 24, 2021, said, “The suspect, Josephine Panyin Mensah, 28, has confessed to the Police during further investigations and stated that neither was she pregnant nor ever being kidnapped. The public will be updated with further details.”
But Nana Oye said on the Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday 25 with host Dzifa Bampoh that “It is very disappointing that the Police had not acted professionally.
“They still have the bruises of the Takoradi girls’ issues and they are trying to show they that are working on this. But when you read the statement, they say they informed the family of Panyin Mensah but they did not.
“Panyin was found disoriented by a carpenter on the grounds of the Jehovah Witness in Axim.
“I have listened to the account of the carpenter and he is saying she wrote the number of a pastor on a piece of paper and then he called the pastor and then also called the family.
“And then he was the one who called the Police and got the Police to come over. So there are some contradictions.”
The former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection added “For me, the most important and critical issue is Panyin Mensah, has she been given legal assistance? Was she informed of her right to remain silent? Under what circumstances was her confession procured? Who were the professionals there?
“Has she received psychiatric help? Has she received help from a psychologist? What is the composition of the team dealing with this case? Because there are mental issues, psychological issues and then there are also criminal issues.”
It is recalled that the Police was heavily criticized after some three girls went missing in Takoradi in 2019.