Boy, 15, Killed

The family of a 15-year-old pupil of Mona Lisa School is crying foul over the mysterious death of their kid, Frank Owusu-Darko, whose body was found in a swimming pool at New Achimota in Accra. Frank was said to have gone to the De Temple Social Centre at New Achimota to swim but never returned home alive. He was later found at the bottom of the swimming pool the next day, with his neck broken. An autopsy report suggests that Frank died of �strangulation�. According to the report signed by a pathologist at the Police Hospital, the intermediate cause of death was a �completely broken neck�. As a result, the family believes that Frank�s body might have been dumped into the pool after he was murdered. The mother of the boy, Vida Aboagyewaa, told Daily Guide that on August 8, 2009, Frank sought permission to go to the poolside with six of his friends to swim. She said, �I had some slight headache so I was in my room when he informed me and left with the friends to the pool some meters away from the house around 2.00pm.� Madam Vida said at around 3.00pm, she tried reaching him on his cell phone but there was no answer.�Later around 5.00pm, I had a call from one of the boys using Frank�s phone asking whether my son had returned home.� The distressed mother said she then hurried to the poolside (De Temple Social Centre) in search of her son, but could not find him.�My son�s clothing, shoes, and phone were returned to me by the friends he went to the pool with. And I wondered how he could have left the pool without his clothes on and his much-loved cell phone.� According to her, when she contacted the De Temple Social Centre, a certain Mr. Mensah, who is believed to be the manager of the place, told her that he personally saw the boy leaving the centre. She said after waiting for sometime without him turning up, she left but went back again, hoping to find him. Madam Aboagyewaa said she met Mr. Mensah again, who this time angrily stirred the pool several times and told her that the boy was not drowned in the pool, insisting he had left the centre. �I then reported the matter to the Achimota Police that my son was missing and an announcement was made on Peace FM,� she added. Unable to sleep, early the next morning around 5.30am, her elder son, Nana Kwame, who also helped to search for Frank, went back to the poolside to have a thorough look at the place again. He returned without any clue as to the whereabouts of his younger brother. �Around 8.00am that morning, we were at the police station when a call came that my son had been found in the pool,� she narrated.A team of police officers were said to have been immediately dispatched to the scene and discovered the body of Frank Owusu-Darko deep beneath the water of about eight feet. The distraught mother said she believed her son did not get drowned in the pool but was murdered and dumped in it later. �We all know that when a person is drowned in a pool, after sometime he floats on the surface of the water but my son was found beneath the water with his hands under his belly,� she claimed. �I know my son to be a good swimmer so I do not believe he can dive at five or eight feet and break his neck or die in the pool,� she added. She said when the remains were removed from the pool, there was no sign that he drunk any water because his stomach was very flat and the mouth was closed.The family is therefore appealing to the IGP, Paul Tawiah Quaye, to look into the matter. The body was sent to the Police Hospital for autopsy, a result which indicated that the basic cause of Frank�s death was strangulation. When Daily Guide contacted the Achimota Police, the District Commander, Simon K. Agbodeka, confirmed the story. He said the parents were at the Police Station a day after the boy was reported missing when a call came that he had been found in the pool of De Temple Social Centre. �I then dispatched a team of police personnel to the scene and the body was taken to the police morgue for autopsy. Mr. Agbodeka said the matter has been transferred to the Police Headquarters for further investigations. When Daily Guide also contacted the De Temple Social Centre, the said Mensah declined to talk, saying his boss was not in the office. However, a source alleged that the centre has no pool instructor for people who go there to swim. Previously, the source said it had one instructor who made sure that children who visited the place did not swim beyond five feet but he was sacked and there had not been a replacement. The deceased is said to be a regular visitor to the centre and could swim very well without any supervision.