The police have arrested three male juveniles, aged between 15 and 17 years, for allegedly gang-defiling a 15-year-old girl at Aboabo Junior High School in the Akuapim North Municipality of the Eastern Region.

Following the incident on January 27, 2024, the police arrested the suspects, who had since made two appearances before the Mampong Magistrate Court to face prosecution for their alleged actions.

The case had sent shockwaves through the community and raised concerns about the safety and well-being of students in educational institutions.

In Ghana, the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (29), prohibits any “natural or unnatural knowledge of a child less than sixteen years of age,” consequently, any person, regardless of their gender, who engages in sexual intercourse with a child, with or without their consent, is found liable to the crime.

The heart-wrenching case has sparked a conversation about the importance of educating young people about such offences and the consequences of their actions.

As the trial proceeds, the community grapples with the complexities of this tragic event and its implications for the future.

Mahmoud E.K. Nantomah, the Project Coordinator of Plan International Ghana’s ‘Be Smart, Learn, and Stay Protected,’ said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, that one of the suspects was the victim’s classmate, with the others being school dropouts.

He explained that the victim, who lived with her 63-year-old grandfather, had gone to her friend’s (one of the suspects’) house together with her younger sister in the evening to borrow his book.

He said after waiting for her friend (the suspect) to return home from purchasing food from outside, she became tired and decided to take a walk around, when she ran into the suspects on the way.

Nantomah said the two other suspects attempted to talk to the victim, but she refused to engage them as they were making their way back to the house with the two friends.

“But they had planned to assault her, so they lifted her and carried her to a nearby bush, where two of the boys raped her one after the other while one fingered her,” he said.

The victim fought back desperately trying to make enough noise to draw attention and signal for help, but the perpetrators had firmly blocked her mouth.

However, in the struggling process, the victim managed to yell a call for assistance and was rescued by a nearby couple, who promptly brought her to the families of the boys and eventually to the police station, where a report was lodged for the suspects’ arrest, Nantomah said.

Nantomah said owing to the vulnerability of the victim and her sibling in society due to their living conditions, the organisation was fully committed to ensuring justice prevailed.