The Director of the Eudoo Counselling Centre in Accra, Dr John Boakye, has advised couples to seriously take minor warning signs from their partners as they could be the clues to bigger and even fatal confrontations.
Speaking to The Mirror in the wake of the rising spate of lethal attacks on one another by people in romantic relationships, he said most of the victims in such cases often ignored early signals by their partners or assumed they were trivial matters which could be easily resolved.
“There are always some signs from the abusive partners but in the name of love, such signs are overlooked and with little or no confrontation, the anger is triggered and then there is an attack of some sort,” Dr Boakye stated.
He said use of abusive words, threats, shouting and exaggerating the impact of little incidents are all signs which should not be overlooked.
He said women, especially cherished relationships so much that even though the man could be abusive, they pretended to be fine or hoped for a change which never happens.
Assault cases
In April this year, 22-year-old Ernest Obeng Boakye poured acid on his 19-year- old girlfriend at Badwie in the Amenfi East District of the Western Region.
Boakye was said to have taken that action because his girlfriend, Vivian Adomako, threatened to end the relationship.
Feeling insecure, he decided to pour acid on her face to make her unattractive to other men in the area, injuring her severely in the process.
Again in June this year, another amorous relationship turned sour when Esther Enyornam Pekyi poured acid on her boyfriend, Eric Ohemeng after an argument.
The incident, which occurred at Madina, a suburb of Accra, resulted in Eric sustaining severe burns on the face, neck and upper body.
He is currently on admission at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
In a rather bizarre manner, an unidentified man was recently reported to have bitten the clitoris of his lover at Koforidua Asokore Kuma in the Eastern Region.
According to reports, the suspect carried out the act during a sexual act based on suspicions that the lady was cheating on him.
An eyewitness said residents in the area were alerted to the plight of the lady after she started screaming out of pain.
“My room is close to theirs so I could hear them making love but after a while, we heard the lady screaming that the guy was biting her private part.
“When we entered the room, we found her lying on the bed with blood coming out of her vagina. The man was nowhere to be found so we rushed her to the hospital,” she recounted.
Counselling
Responding to what could move an individual to commit such a crime, Dr Boakye said though betrayal or heartbreak could result in such cases, many people who became abusive in relationships often harboured an inner anger usually acquired from a previous abusive relationship or upbringing.
“No one is born violent but some experiences could change or mold how an individual reacts to things around him or her. A person raised by parents who were always arguing or fighting, was likely to be violent to the people closest to them.”
According to Dr Boakye, many people who physically abused their partners often regretted their actions and apologise after the incident but because it is an inner anger, they transfer it to other people with the slightest provocation.
He explained that for such people, jail sentences alone would not reform them as they needed continuous counselling to change their mindsets and subsequently, how they react to situations when angry.
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