Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Beatrice Korsah, Bono Regional Coordinator of DOVVSU, disclosed the incident to the media in Sunyani, stating: “We invited his parents, and we have since resolved the matter amicably.”

According to DSP Korsah, the boy came to the unit in his school uniform, and his actions shed light on the plight of many children who suffer in silence in their homes.

“This situation highlights the challenges some children face. His decision to speak up was bold, and we commend him for fighting for his fundamental human rights,” she stated.

She further noted that the boy’s report resulted in a positive outcome and underscored DOVVSU’s commitment to supporting victims of abuse while providing a safe space for such cases to be reported.

DSP Korsah also revealed that some men face domestic violence in their homes but often refrain from reporting it due to societal stigma.

She encouraged the public to maintain confidence in DOVVSU and report all forms of domestic violence and human rights violations, stressing that anyone—regardless of age or gender—can report abuse to the unit.

“Every abuse case must be reported to DOVVSU personnel, who are well-trained and capable of handling them professionally. DOVVSU unites and does not disintegrate families,” she emphasized.

She added, “DOVVSU is a safe space for everyone—children, men, and women alike—and everyone should feel comfortable reporting violence or abuse.”

Source: GNA

ALSO READ:

• DOVVSU Officer ‘snatches complainant’s husband

• Ghana Police Service introduces new phase of DOVVSU

Regional DOVVSU Coordinator, Chief Superintendent Victoria Yeboah Darkwa, says the unit continues to receive numerous reports of sexual, psychological, physical, and verbal abuse, mostly involving women and girls.

Some of these cases are currently being prosecuted in court.

Chief Superintendent Darkwa noted that most cases reported by men against their partners are verbal abuse.

The month of July has been dedicated for nationwide awareness creation on the various forms of abuse that occur in homes and relationships.

“Many people are suffering in silence, being insulted, beaten, or humiliated by others. Some don’t even know where DOVVSU is located or how to report their problems,” she explained.

She called on the public to speak up and seek help from DOVVSU, regardless of age or gender.

“We are reminding everyone that there is a group called DOVVSU. If something is worrying you, whether you are a girl, boy, adult, or child, we will listen to you and help you,” she assured.

Chief Superintendent Darkwa stressed that confidentiality is a key pillar of DOVVSU’s operations.

“When you come to DOVVSU, your problem is secure because we operate with strict privacy and confidentiality. Even dignitaries have come to us, and we have never let their issues go public,” she disclosed.

She encouraged victims of domestic abuse to report their cases without fear, adding that the Unit exists to support and protect the vulnerable in society.

The case was later brought to Nhyira FM’s Obra Show to help trace his family and fulfill the boy’s wish to be reunited with his grandmother.

The boy said he was sent on an errand by his grandmother on June 3, 2025. On his way, a man approached him and asked him to deliver an item to someone in a nearby car.

After the delivery, the driver offered to take him home; but instead drove him to an unknown location, which the boy later identified as Ahwiaa.

Realizing he had been misled and was far from home, he began walking to find his way back. He eventually arrived at Moshie Zongo, where two Good Samaritans, Mr. Razack Musah and Mr. Sulemena Musah, found him and took him to the police.

He was handed over to DOVVSU and taken under the care of Social Welfare officers Mavis Appiah Kubi and Prospera Oforiwaa Dapaah.

In an interview with Nhyira FM, Mavis Appiah Kubi said “the boy is so innocent that the money given to him by his grandmother was still in his pocket, even though he had gone hungry for days.”

The case featured on Nhyira FM’s Obra Show as part of efforts to locate the boy’s family and safely return him to his grandmother.

The police are also investigating to identify the man who took the boy away.

According to her, the Ghana Police Service aims at rendering better services for all domestic violence survivors, hence the establishment of DOVVSU’s one-stop centre.

“Because we want better service for survivors of domestic violence that is why the police have set up that one-stop centre to ensure that we give proper, quality improved services to survivors of domestic violence,” she said.

Speaking on Adom FM’s ‘Dwaso Nsem’, she explained that the new face of the unit has to do with the establishment of DOVVSU’s one-stop centre which is in to help handle issues of domestic violence in a whole new way other than the traditional way of handling such issues.

The centre, which is located behind the Police Headquarters, will house a soundproof room where victims will be able to give details of their ordeal without third-party involvement.

This has been put in place to ensure that all that is discussed there are kept highly confidential and to avoid any secondary victimisation.

Also, a support system, including members of social welfare, legal practitioners, police and medical officials will be readily available to swing into action.

The director further explained that the new phase has all the support systems that will help the victims who find themselves in violent situations to get the support they need.

“We have a place for relaxation and a helpline centre. The helpline centre is to help the public to reach us 24/7,” she added.

The man allegedly held the girl for five days and sexually abused her despite pleas for him to stop.

The victim told Kasapa News that the suspect, Keteku Enock Yaw, had sexual intercourse with her four times a day and locked her in the room whenever he went out.

ALSO READ:

• Police send strong warning to residents who assault suspected thieves

• Tears as IGP visits family of 9-year-old killed during Awutu Bereku…

The mother of the victim, who is a prophetess, wants the law to deal with the suspect.

Meanwhile, the suspect was put before court on Tuesday and remanded into Police custody.

Parents of the victim, Gilbert and Gladys Mensah, were also dragged to the Kasoa command of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) over the ill treatment of their son.

According to police reports, the boy broke his hand from his wrist area while playing football.

Instead of seeking medical treatment, the parents sought help from the 83-year-old pastor, who failed to bring relief to the boy.

As a consequence, the boy’s hand started decaying, to the point his flesh was falling off, leaving the bone to bare.

However, the head pastor was insistent he could heal the boy and restricted the parents from visiting the hospital.

READ ON

• Car thief runs into police vehicle while escaping

• Police officer involved in accident on Tema Motorway

It took the efforts of a Good Samaritan, Alfred Boakye, who reported the case before medics attended to the boy, amputating his hand in the process.

Meanwhile, the Kasoa DOVVSU Commander, ASP Dories Larye Aggrey, said all the suspects are in their custody while the boy is receiving treatment at the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital.

Police Domestic Violence Support Unit (DOVVSU) has revealed that approximately 10 children are abused annually in the Afigya Sekyere South District in the Ashanti Region.

Speaking with the Inspector in charge of the division, Rosemary Abeka, she indicated that children are often subjected to physical, sexual abuse and neglect which often have psychological effects on the child.

Per reports, about 95 million children are abused globally every year and the highest rate is reported in Africa.

DOVSUU recently investigated an incident of three children below the ages of eight of which two were abused by their parents, and the third child was hit with a cutlass by an angry neighbour at Apaah in the same Region.

Two of the children recounted the incidence to Nhyira FM’s Obidehyie Ofori Amanfo:

“My sibling lost money and my mother thought I had stolen it. She beat me and put my hands in the fire.

“A man sent his granddaughter to sell some cassava. The granddaughter refused to sell the cassava and the man got angry. He mistook me for his granddaughter and hit me with a cutlass.”

Inspector Abeka, speaking at a programme organised by the Apaah Emmanuel Child Development Centre, cautioned parents to exercise patience when dealing with their wards and refrain from being violent with their children.

The event was under the theme ‘Protecting the Child, Securing the Future’ to create awareness of child abuse.

Speaking at the programme, the Minister in charge of the Foundation, Rev. George Ayam noted that the campaign was to educate parents and raise awareness on the consequences of child abuse.

“If someone takes the law into his or her own hands and abuse any child, the law will take its course so they [parents] have to be aware so that they don’t abuse any child,” he noted.

Head of Programmes at the Mampong National Commission for Civic Education, Francis Mensah, advised parents to desist from any act of violence that will jeopardise the future of children

The victim was cut with a razor blade as punishment after he allegedly took chicken wings from the fridge without permission in a quest to satisfy his hunger.

According to sources, the mother of the victim, left the house in 2019 leaving her two children behind due to the abusive nature of the suspect.

The four-year-old was then forced to drop out of school.

The neighbour, who reported the issue, said on Sunday, July 26, she saw three deep cuts on the victim’s right arm and inquired what had happened.

ALSO

• Gas explosion kills 2, injures five [Photos+Video]

• Two arrested for repackaging orthodox medicine as herbal product

When the boy told her what had transpired, she hurriedly lodged a complaint at the Weija DOVVSU.

The boy was subsequently sent to the hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, there are efforts underway to trace the victim’s mother.

She attributed the numbers to societal stereotypes which have become stumbling blocks for women in their attempt to develop.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Y’asetenamu show, she said the figures will continue to increase if efforts are not made to change societal perceptions and stereotypes against women.

ALSO READ:

• Man in court for threatening to kill neighbour over woman

• Cocoa farmer butchers wife to death at Mile 5 in Tarkwa

“It is sad that some men are still living with the notion that the place of a woman is the kitchen and must not be allowed to participate in any societal activity but the days of confining women to the kitchen are over and there is the need for men, especially to live with that,” she urged.

She said the fear of some men losing their supremacy at home make them resort to abusing their wives to break them down.

“They go to the extent of refusing their wives the opportunity to take up leadership positions and also deny them access to pursue their goals and admirations,” she said.

She, however, advised men to accept women as members of society who can also contribute to development and nation-building by not limiting them to traditional roles.

The practice, according to DOVVSU, had become common among families in the region but regrettably, families involved were not willing to report culprits or pursue the cases because of stigma.

Detective Corporal Richard Boadi-Twum, an Investigator with DOVVSU, who shared this sentiment, indicated that in most cases, the victims were teenagers while the perpetrators were old men, including fathers and uncles.

He was speaking on sexual offenses and their punishments at a two-day sensitization workshop for heads of vocational institutions, apprenticeship, and artisanal groups on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, gender equality, and Sexual Reproductive Health.

The workshop was organised by the National Youth Authority in collaboration with the Regional Coordinating Council with funding from the United Nations Population Fund.

Though he did not give figures, Corporal Boadi-Twum, mentioned several specific recent cases of incest reported at the Unit to buttress his claim.

For instance, he said a taxi driver who slept with his four daughters was on the run after one of them reported to the Police, adding that the wife aided him to abscond.

Detective Corporal Twum-Boadi cautioned family members especially mothers to keep a close eye on their daughters and male relatives.

He also spoke about the rate of defilement in the region and cautioned landlords, landladies, and co-tenants, to report adults who had an affair with girls under 16 years.

He said the laws on defilement had been made strict to protect young girls to secure their future, hence the long sentences of seven and twenty-five years jail term for defilement perpetrators to serve as a deterrent.

Mr Michael Tagoe, Youth Program Officer of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, for the Western and Central Regions took participants through sexual reproductive health and family planning.

He mentioned the various family planning methods as well as its myths and misconceptions and underscored the need for couples to plan their families in the current dispensation.

According to him, the high teen pregnancies, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), and abortion with its attendant high mortality rate was an indication that the youth were already engaging in sex and must be educated to make the right choices.

Mr Tagoe expressed worry about the rate of unsafe abortion among the youth adding that his outfit recorded at least three daily abortion cases.

He stressed the need to intensity efforts on comprehensive sexuality education and family planning to save the youth from unwanted pregnancies and (STDs).

Mr Emmanuel Sodja Martey, Regional Director of the NYA commended the collaborative efforts of the UNFPA and the Regional Coordinating Council in helping to address gender-related and reproductive health issues of the youth.

He took the opportunity to re-echo the need for everyone to observe the outlined Covid-19 protocols to stop the spread of the virus.

Speaking on the issue in an interview on the Dwaso Nsem show on Adom FM, ASP Laryea said her action was a breach of the law and as such will have to face the full rigours of the law.

READ THIS:

• NDC mocks Akufo-Addo over latest CPI
• Man steals speaker to get arrested and avoid getting married to his girlfriend
• Why it is a taboo for men to kneel down to propose – Pete Edochie [Video]

ASP Laryea disclosed Patience Zuwenu, mother of the dumped baby, is unwell and is currently receiving medical treatment.  

“Mother of the baby is a bit sick because she delivered by herself at home and not at the hospital so she is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. But, we will deal with her as soon as she is well,” she noted.

The baby, according to ASP Laryea, is currently in the custody of the Social Welfare Department, pending investigations.  

SEE THIS:

• Why it is a taboo for men to kneel down to propose – Pete Edochie [Video]
• EC appeals for public trust on compilation of new register
• Usain Bolt expecting a child with girlfriend

Patience, mother of two-day-old baby dumped in a bush at Awutu Ofaakor in the Central region, has blamed her action on unbridled hardship and the father denying responsibility of the pregnancy.

She has, however, shown remorse and appealed for clemency, but DOVVSU will have none of that.

According to the Kasoa Divisional Commander of DOVVSU, ASP Doris Laryea, mother of the dumped baby in the fifth month of her pregnancy told father of the baby she had lost the pregnancy through a miscarriage.  

SEE THIS:

• Eku Juice reaches UK [Photos]
• GHPL Week Six Preview: Hearts host bitter rivals Kotoko on Sunday, unbeaten Chelsea host Aduana Stars
• Video: Fraud boys emptied my bank account – Popular musician reveals

“We’ve contacted the father of the baby and for the first five months he was aware of the pregnancy until he was told by the lady that she had lost the pregnancy through a miscarriage,” ASP Laryea said on Dwaso Nsem, Adom FM’s morning show on Friday.

She said the father of the baby only got to know of the baby’s existence when news of a baby dumped in a bush broke out.

“To him, he knew the lady had had a miscarriage and so didn’t know the lady had given birth until he heard reports of a baby dumped in a bush and later got to know the said baby belonged to Patience Zuwenu,” she noted.

READ THIS:

• Gifty Anti marks 50th birthday with party; launches 2 books [Video+Photos]
• Shooting of two Indians at Tema: A disguised assassination attempt, not robbery – New details suggest
• Just in: Car on fire crashes into sidewalk at Achimota [Video]

Father of the baby is said to be assisting with police investigations as DOVVSU readies to prosecute Patience for the crime committed.

Patience, an attendant at a local restaurant on Wednesday, dumped her two-day-old baby in a bush at Awutu Ofaakor in the Central region.

She blamed her action on unbridled hardship.  

The figure represented an increase of 42.9 percent while rape cases also increased from 38 in 2015 to 56 in 2016.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) David Nenyi Ampiah-Bennin, the Regional Police Commander, made this known at their 2017 West African Security Service Association (WASSA) on Friday.

The occasion, which was used for stock taking and interactions, was attended by the members of the various divisions of the Police Service such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, the Motor Transport and Traffic Department, as well as commanders of allied security agencies.

DCOP Ampiah- Bennin said murder cases recorded during the same period reduced to 39 as against 49 in the previous year and robbery cases also reduced from 156 to 79.

Possessing narcotic drug cases dropped from 71 in 2015 to thirty-eight and stealing cases reduced from 4,024 to 3,703.

In all, he said, 18,679 cases were reported in 2016 as against 18,676 in the previous year.

DCOP Ampiah-Bennin said the Police would continue to work assiduously without any fear or favour to ensure that criminal activities are reduced in the Region.

He, however, said fighting crime and maintaining law and order was a shared responsibility and called for effective public engagement and cooperation from stakeholders to achieve the goal.

DCOP Ampiah-Bennin said two personnel were dismissed for engaging in criminal activities and acting unprofessionally.

He said six others also had their ranks reduced, another five were severely reprimanded for indiscipline while six others were given various disciplinary actions during the same period.

DCOP Ampiah-Bennin cautioned the officers to desist from engaging in unprofessional conduct as the Command would not hesitate to institute disciplinary charges against any officer who flouted the rules and regulations of the Service.

The Regional police Commander commended his officers for their hard work, especially during the general election and urged them to be professional and work harder.

Mr Kwamena Duncan, the Central Regional Minister, commended the Police for helping to reduce the crime rate and also maintaining peace in the region.

He urged the Police and its allied security agencies to form friendly partnerships in their bid to combat crime and securing the Region.

He also called on them sustain the ‘Police visibility and accessibility patrol programme’, especially on the Kasoa- Cape Coast highway to check over-speeding and reckless driving which has accounted for many of the recent road accidents on that stretch of road.

Obrempong Nyanful Krampah XI, President of the Central Region House of Chiefs and Omanhen of Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area, who presided over the ceremony praised the Police for the professionalism exhibited during the 2016 general elections.

source: GNA