Counsel for the Accused Lebanese, Rabih Haddad, who has been arraigned before an Accra District Court for allegedly raping his 19-year old house help, has stated that the Accused is suffering from a medical condition known as myocardial cells damage.
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According to the Counsel for the Accused, Ralph Poku Adusei, it is a heart condition which causes shortness of breath and could lead to cardiac arrest.
Counsel for the Accused person said this in an application for bail for the Lebanese national.
He stated that confining the Accused in police cells could lead to shortness of breath which would be fatal to the Accused. He further stated that the Accused fainted the previous day whiles in police custody due to the ailment.
In his oral application, the lawyer stated that nothing connected the Accused to the Complainant. He added that his client should also not be in detention whilst the DNA analysis is being carried out on the victim.
Counsel for the Accused also said that the Accused had lived in Ghana for 12 years, he had a permanent place of abode at Airport Hills and is a family man with two children.
In reading the brief facts, the prosecutor, SOP Kwaku Bempah stated that the victim is a 19 year old Togolese who was engaged as a domestic house help of the Accused person at his residence at Airport Hills, a suburb of Accra.
The Prosecutor narrated that in November 2017, the victim was employed as a house help by the Accused person and his wife. She was accommodated in the house in the boys’ quarters together with one other lady who is also a house help.
According to the Prosecutor, ever since the victim moved into the house, the Accused persistently harassed and always insisted on having sexual intercourse with her.
“On 30th November 2017, in the afternoon, the Accused person lured the victim into one of the bedrooms upstairs and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her when his wife and other occupants of the house had gone out”, SOP Bempah stated.
The Prosecutor explained that the victim reported the issue to a co-worker who is a witness in the case but both kept it to themselves for fear of losing their jobs.
SOP Kwaku Bempah stated that on the 2nd of December, 2017 between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., when the Accused’s wife and children had gone out, he requested the victim to prepare coffee for him. When the victim went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee the accused approached her and demanded to have sexual intercourse with her. She resisted and the Accused person who got infuriated, slapped her on the face and also hit her on the neck.
The Prosecutor explained that the Accused then dragged the victim into the master bedroom close to the kitchen, stripped her naked, forcibly had sexual intercourse with her and warned the victim not to report to any person. After which the victim took his bath and drove his vehicle out of the house.
The Prosecutor stated that the victim again reported her ordeal to her co-worker who also gave the information out to a police officer who was on duty at a nearby house.
The case was subsequently reported to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service at Airport which led to the arrest of the Accused person on the 3rd of December, 2017.
According to SOP Bempah, a Police medical report form was issued to the victim to attend hospital and an interim report was received pending further medical examination which is DNA analysis, being conducted to confirm the report or otherwise.
The Prosecutor stated that the Accused person however denied the offence and has put up a case of alibi which is being investigated.
The application for bail was dismissed by the court since it was not within the court’s jurisdiction and the Accused has therefore been remanded.
The case has been adjourned to 19th December, 2017.
Source: GhanaJustice/F.Kyeremateng
