An 87-year-old man, Yaw Gahornu, has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in hard labour by the Gender-Based Violence Court at the DOVVSU Headquarters for defiling a nine-year-old girl at Ofankor, a suburb of Accra.
The convict was handed the custodial sentence after the court found him guilty of the offence, following a successful prosecution by the Tesano Divisional Police Command.
Briefing the press in a statement issued on 12th October 2026, the Head of Public Affairs for the Accra Regional Police Command, Chief Superintendent Juliana Obeng, revealed that preliminary investigations established that the abuse occurred repeatedly between July and August 2026.
According to the police, the victim’s mother discovered the abuse on 29th August 2026 after returning home from work to notice bloodstains on her daughter’s clothing. Upon questioning, the child disclosed that Gahornu had repeatedly subjected her to both vaginal and anal penetration in his sleeping quarters.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect issued death threats to the victim to prevent her from exposing the act to her mother. However, on 31st August 2026, the convict’s granddaughter witnessed the abuse and alerted family members, leading to an official complaint to the police and Gahornu’s subsequent arrest.
Welcoming the court’s decision, Chief Superintendent Obeng reaffirmed the Accra Regional Police Command’s commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable individuals, while appealing to the general public to promptly report all suspected cases of child abuse to the authorities.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
