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Ghana: Angry Mother Abandons Six-Month-Old Baby
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Public Agenda (Accra)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Selorm Amevor
The refusal of a father to take care of his child has compelled the mother to do the unthinkable- dumping the six -month old baby in the bush.
According to Detective Eunice A. Atinya of the Domestic Violence and Victim's Support Unit (DOVVSU) at the Madina Police Station, the six month old baby was found in the bush near the husband's residence at Ashongman Estate, a suburb of Accra.
Narrating the incident to this reporter Detective Atinya said the mother of the child is known as Darkoa alias Manaa, 22 years and hails from Nsawam in the Eastern Region.
The detective said the 22 year old woman was betrothed to a 33 year- old man called Mensah , an Electrician and based in Accra but unfortunately he refused to name the child after delivery.
She said a source indicated that the mother had shown earlier intentions of abandoning the baby and gave an instance where she left the child in the car of a friend of the husband.
Detective Atinya said this forced the friend to inform the Atomic Police who also invited her and advised her not to make any effort at abandoning the child since it was a criminal offence and inhuman. "It was exactly three days after that advice that she abandoned the child in the bush."
According to her both the father and mother are still on the run although the relatives of the lady have come for child.
When questioned, the woman's relatives said she was compelled to dump the baby due to financial difficulties since the father has never given the mother any money to cater for the child.
In addition, she alleged that a tenant in the husbands' house had warned her never to enter the house of the husband again and on that fateful day she was going to give the boy to the father but because she could not enter she decided to leave him in the bush.
Detective Atinya was of the view that even though the lady had the right to complain about the husband not giving her money to take care of the child, she could have found some job to do to cater for the baby.
Detective Atinya said there is an increasing trend of mothers abandoning their children in recent times and felt the time had come for more stringent laws to be passed to check the menace.
According to her the DOVVSU , Madina receives not less than four cases of child abandonment in a month and this is an issue that deserves national attention since the orphanages are already choked with countless abandoned children.
She however, bemoaned the inadequate facilities at these orphanages and called on the government to consider providing more facilities for the children's homes.
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She called on young ladies to be cautious when entering into relationships since there are many irresponsible men out there who go about impregnating ladies and abandon them to their fate.
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