<<Print>>

Four more students from the University of Ghana, Legon, were yesterday dragged to court for allegedly fingering Amina Haruna, a suspected thief, at Annex B of the Mensah Sarbah Hall of the university. This brings to 13 the number of persons arrested in connection with the offence. The accused persons, Ernest Tutor, Alexander Aryee, Benedicta Boamah Brohim and Jason Boamah, managed to escape from the grips of the police when their nine colleagues were arraigned for the offence, but with the help of Thomas Aobyn, one of the lawyers for the accused persons, the students were yesterday put before court. Previously, the prosecuting officer, DSP Kofi Blagodzi, wanted a bench warrant to be issued for their arrest but counsel for the accused persons gave the court the assurance that the students were not at large and that they would produce them. The accused persons were charged before an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Georgina Mensah-Datsa, with conspiracy to commit crime, assault by imprisonment, indecent assault and causing unlawful harm. They have denied any wrongdoing and have been granted bail in the sum of GH�9000. Mr. Aobyn prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable them prepare the accused persons for court. The case has been adjourned to July 14, 2011. The other accused persons standing trial with them are Francis Wiredu Attah, Tornu Mark Dickson, Morris Awuregya, Nana Osei Asiamah, Gideon Agyei Ayiridaga, Aboyadana Amobilla, Afeatse Godfred, Evans Addai Boateng and Obed Banini. They were also granted bail in the sum of GH�9,000. DSP Kofi Blagodzi, the prosecuting officer who presented the facts of the case, told the court that the complainant is a petty trader residing at Madina, while the accused persons are students of the University of Ghana, Legon. According to him, on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at about 11:30pm, the complainant, Amina Haruna, was at the Mensah Sarbah Hall Annex B, where she was accused of stealing a laptop and mobile phone belonging to one of the students. He said after the items were retrieved from the complainant, she was locked up in a room until 3am, when she was brought out and beaten severely, after which she was stripped and some of the students forcibly inserted their fingers into her vagina. The prosecutor said Amina bled profusely before the campus security came to her rescue and handed her over to the police, who in turn gave her a medical form to seek medical attention after she reported her ordeal to them. He stated that after she was treated and discharged, the police realised that video recordings and photographs of her were taken by some students, which were later distributed to media houses and put on the internet. The police officer said the complainant identified the accused persons in the photographs and later at an identification parade held at the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters. He said the students, after their arrest, denied the offence in their caution statements and were arraigned after police investigations. Unlike before, a few students accompanied their colleagues yesterday when the case was called. The assault victim, Amina, was not in court but no reasons were assigned for her absence.