The Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service has appealed to the public to treat any threat made on their lives with seriousness.
Superintendent of Police Rebecca Nyamah, Tema Regional DOVVSU Coordinator, told the GNA in an interview that every threat of harm or threat of death made on a person's life must be immediately reported to the police.
She said some people had been murdered by relatives, spouses and other people because they neglected such threats issued to them in the past.
SP Nyamah said threats such as "you will see" are criminal and must therefore be treated as such by lodging a complaint with the Police for action to be taken.
The Tema Regional DOVVSU office recorded an increase in cases of threat of harm and threat of death in 2013 compared to 2012.
A total of 104 and 88 reports on threat of harm and threat of death respectively were recorded in 2013 compared to the 88 threat of harm and 76 threat of death received in 2012.
Out of the 104 threat of harm cases, Ashaiman accounted for 73 of the cases while the Tema New Town, Dodowa, Ada, Prampram, Community 11 and the Community Two offices recorded none.
The Tema DOVVSU also recorded 1,458 criminal cases and 1,829 family related cases.
Four-hundred-and-forty-one cases of the family related cases were referred to court, 278 to Family Tribunal, 157 to Social Welfare Department and six to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Officers in DOVVSU offices settled the remaining 1,388 of the family related cases.
The unit was successful in securing 12 convictions with a minimum sentence of one to 25 years whiles 77 cases are pending before court.
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