Otiko Afisa Djaba, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection has condemned the attack on a suspected female thief in Kumasi.In a video that went viral on social media sometime last week, some men had allegedly caught a woman accused of stealing, and beat her continuously while also stripping her of her clothing.
Otiko Djaba while speaking to Citi News said, “Ghana is a blessed country; and we live by the principles of democracy and the rule of law. I condemn the video. It is horrific, it is about injustice, and that is not who we are as a people. Ghanaians have a lot of warmth and love especially for their mothers and children and so even if there is an allegation we believe a person is innocent until proven guilty.Criminals as well have rights; so in this case there is an allegation that she has stolen some money; but whether it is true or not, it is not for the mob to decide. It is for the system. It is the Police who will decide on that and that is why I am condemning it.”
The gender minister described the assault on the woman as ‘inhumane’ and undignified, apologizing on behalf of her and the country as a whole.
Otiko Djaba further stated that there will be systems in place that ensure that such acts are never repeated.
“I think there is a trend of intolerance building up in our society. Sometimes even young men who are involved are burnt. Mob action and some form of rage seems to be coming into our national development and that means we have a lot of work in the advocacy so we are going to work with the Police and stakeholders like the traditional rulers and the victims themselves so that we begin to sensitize our people about tolerance and the rights of individuals,” she further stated.
Meanwhile, 24 men suspected to have been the assailants of the woman have been arrested by the Kumasi police and are currently in custody of the Criminal Investigations Department in Kumasi.
The police have said that there will be a screening exercise that will help identify the persons that aided in the assault.
Source|| Citifmonline.com
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