An Accra Circuit Court convicted Davidson Afotey Odai, an electrician who had intercourse with his own daughter and caused two abortions for her, to 24 years in prison with hard labor.
Odai pleaded guilty to defilement, incest, and two charges of criminal abortion.
Odai continued to have sex with the victim even after his wife and daughter had been purified by family members when the incident was initially revealed.
He told the court that he had no idea what had happened to him and that he regretted his conduct every time he had sex with his 14-year-old daughter, who is now 16 years old.
According to him, he paid GH1,100 for her daughter’s abortion and GH65.00 for drugs.
Odai claimed that in the first abortion, he provided the victim, who is his first kid, medication to consume and insert, and that in the second, he paid GH1,100 to LEKMA Hospital for a safe abortion.
Mrs. Christina Cann, the trial judge, asked Odai whether his wife had been denying him sex, but he said, “That was not the reason why I had sex with my daughter.” I’ve cried out to God and pleaded with Him.”
“I’m begging the court to forgive me and show pity to me. “I took my daughter to the hospital after hearing about safe abortion on the radio,” the felon told the court.
The severity of the offence, the degree of repulsion by the law, the escalation in the threat, the victim’s age, and the trauma she had undergone as a result of the conduct were all factors considered by the Court in imposing the punishment.
Odai “did not exhibit remorse as he gave a thorough account of what he did to his daughter,” according to the Court. The accused is the victim’s father, and rather than preserving her dignity and purity, he used her as his sex mate.”
Child Rights International had taken up the case and agreed to provide counseling to the victim, who is in Junior High School three, according to the court.
The police have also stated that they are willing to provide counseling to the victim and her family. The victim’s mother, a tomato vendor, said in court that she never denied her husband sexual activity. She also claimed to have met all of the victim’s needs.
Chief Inspector Agartha Asantewaa pleaded with the Court to impose a punitive punishment to dissuade future offenders.
The Prosecution stated that the complainant (name withheld) was the mother of the victim, who is now 16 years old.
It stated that the complainant had been married to Odai, now a convict, for 17 years and that they had four children, one of them was the victim.
According to the prosecution, the complainant discovered that the victim was pregnant when she was 14 years old and the family was living in a single room at Odai’s mother’s house in Teshie Tebibiano.
When the victim’s mother inquired about the perpetrator, she mentioned her father, according to the prosecution (Odai).
Odai confirmed the crime and prayed for forgiveness when questioned by the victim’s mother, according to the report.
The victim’s mother noticed the victim bleeding before she could make a decision about her daughter’s situation, according to the prosecution.
Odai had given the victim some drugs to take and some to implant into her vagina to abort the pregnancy, according to the report.
According to the prosecution, Abraham denied being responsible, claiming that the girl had confided in him and that it was her father, Odai, who had been having sex with her.
“When the accused learned that the young guy had denied responsibility, he took the victim to LEKMA Hospital in Teshie Nungua in July of this year and aborted the pregnancy,” the statement stated.
Odai told the physicians that the victim had been impregnated by an irresponsible young guy and that the victim was a BECE candidate, necessitating the abortion, according to the prosecution.
The second abortion was performed in August of this year after Odai had intercourse with the victim in their living room while the victim’s mother was in the bedroom, according to the report.
The victim’s mother and children were relocated, according to the prosecution, and the incident was reported to Child Right International, which also petitioned the Director-General of CID and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit to investigate the matter, and a medical form was issued to the victim’s mother to send her to the hospital.
“A medical practitioner signed the medical report form, which was then returned to the police. The accused was later apprehended,” it stated.
