Girl, 5, Raped and Gagged

“I am feeling dizzy, I cannot walk I have painful sores all over my private parts. I saw blood coming out and when I touched there, the pain was unbearable, so I have been crying.”

This was five-year-old Rosemary Amo (not her real name) of Baiden Nursery School at Abora Dunkwa in the (Central Region of Ghana) narrating how she is feeling after being allegedly raped by Kofi Mensah, a middle-aged farmer.

The Crusading Guide can confirm after its investigations into this matter that if civil society and non-governmental organisations do not quickly intervene in this matter, the little girl would see no justice as the alleged rapist is allegedly making moves to ensure that the matter does not see the light of day.

Already, talks are going on between family members of the girl and the alleged rapist to ensure that the case is not reported to the police, while the child still suffers pain.

A source at Abora Dunkwa, who sneaked the girl to this paper, said that “you know how our society operates; the family thinks if they report the case and the man is jailed they would incur the wrath of some powerful people in Abora Dunkwa. That is why they are keeping tight-lipped over the matter”.

The Crusading Guide’s checks at Abora Dunkwa government hospital indicated that the girl had been sent for treatment there and had been given an injection, pending further investigations.

The nurse on duty, after checking the injuries inflicted on the girl, advised that the matter be reported to the police. At press time, the matter was still being kept under lock and key by all parties.

Rosemary Amo told this reporter that the man slept with her on two occasions, adding that she was in pain. “So I reported to people and I have gone to hospital but I still feel pain and I cry,” she said.

Asked how it happened, she said the man took her to her room after school, put her on a mat and slept with her.“He said I should not tell anybody,” she said, with tears in her eyes. Meanwhile, Kofi Mensah, the alleged rapist, has given GH¢3.00 to the girl’s carers to pay for her hospital bills. The Crusading Guide is already making attempts to call for help for the five-year-old girl – more especially as the world celebrated World Child Abuse Day as the paper went to press.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas - 2008 Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism Winner, Local journalist category