Liberia: Woman Dies After Alleged Sodomy

A woman identified as Princess Kerkula has died after being allegedly sodomized by a wheelbarrow operator identified as Alhaji, through an alleged commercial sex transaction for L$1,500.

The sad incident occurred on Thursday, 20 April 2023 at the Old Gobachop Market around a poultry farm in Paynesville, Red-light.

The victim was said to be in her 30s, and a mother of five children.

Residents of the area said the victim complained of severe pains before her death.

Eyewitnesses said the deceased was an alleged sex worker, but this paper could not immediately verify the claim.

Ansumana Gaye, a disadvantaged youth in the area, took charge of Princess' remains while the deceased's family for the removal of the body.

Ansumana explained to the NewDawn newspaper that he knew the deceased as a sex- worker.

He claimed that she used to hustle, leaving her Soul Clinic residence for Red-light in search of survival.

"You know, Princess that woman who used to come hustle here and all of us used to get charged [Liberian way of saying to get drunk or to smoke weed]," said .

"But I don't know how she died. All I can tell you [is that] it is sorrowful," Ansumana explained.

He said Princess complained that her stomach was hurting.

"We woke-up and heard the news she has died, and the wheelbarrow nigger had sex [with her] in her anus," Gaye noted.

Madam Yamah Kula, who used to sell drinks to the deceased, explained that the Princess had complained about severe pain in her stomach before she died.

"Princess [came] here everything ... She usually [bought] her drinks from [me]. But from her appearance, she hasn't been feeling well," said Yamah.

According to her, the late Princess said her waist and stomach were hurting, and she was also weak.

"And I asked her what had happened? She told me she was sick. And I asked her whether she had taken medicine, she said no," said Yamah.

"So I gave her a $50 dollar to buy the oral rehydration solution (ORS). And when she bought it ... I left for my business," she continued.

Yamah said Princess slept in the shop and she met here there the next morning.

Through her interrogation, she said Princess explained that she had been used multiple times in her anus by a tall wheelbarrow man.

Yamah said they looked after Princess until her death.

Mr. Abraham Kerkula, a brother of the deceased, said the late Princess loved the street.

According to him, she used to leave their father's Soul Clinic residence to go out in the street, mainly in the Red-light area where she had most of her friends.

Mr. Kerkula confirmed that his late sister used to appear sick. He said she faced a series of punishments so that she could stay home, but that did not work until her death.

Meanwhile, the Re-light Detachment of the Liberia National Police (LNP) Zone Five Depot has arrested a suspect believed to be Alhaji.

The police did not disclose any further information to the press.

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