FARMER, 45, BEATS WIFE TO DEATH (MIRROR, PAGE 35)

From Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Wenchi.

A 45-year-old farmer at Etuna, a farming village near Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region, Kwaku Chirbu, has appeared before the Wenchi Magistrate Court for allegedly beating his wife, Abena Suntey, 35, to death and burying her secretly with the assistance of some neighbours.
The suspect is said to have convinced the unsuspecting sympathizers that, the deceased was pregnant and that after taking some concoction to terminate the pregnancy, she died.
Chirbu, a native of Dafieme in the Nadowli District in the Upper West Region, has been charged with murder and hindrance of inquest and has been remanded in prison custody by the court, Presided over by Mr Essel Walker and is to reappear on Thursday, April 24,2008.
At the last adjourned date, March 27, 2008, the court ordered that, the body be exhumed by a team of pathologists from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospiatl (KATH) in Kumasi, led by Dr Siaw Boateng.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Prince Sam Kwame Osae, in-charge of the Wenchi District Police, told The Mirror in an interview that, the suspect, was married to the deceased and one other woman, Sylvia Taafare, 25 and that they were farmers at Etuna, near Wenchi.
He alleged that on March 18, 2008, the junior wife, Sylvia, who happened to be the sister of the deceased, sought permission from the husband to visit her father at Kintampo but the man declined.
DSP Osae further indicated that, the deceased then decided to intercede on behalf of her rival, a move, he said did not go down well with the husband and consequently subjected the senior wife to severe beatings which resulted in her unconsciousness.
According to the Police Officer, the junior wife then decided to travel to Kintampo as planned the following day and whilst there she was informed that her rival had died and that the husband had quickly organised for her burial.
The Police Officer said, on her return the junior wife reported the case to the police who then effected the arrest of the husband.
DSP Osae alleged that, the suspect had told his neighbours that, the wife had been sick for sometime and that had culminated in her death.
In his caution statement, Mr. Osae alleged that, the suspect indicated that, his wife was two months old pregnant and that she took some concoction to terminate the pregnancy and that resulted in her demise.
According to the District Police Command, the said concoction had been collected to the Police Crime laboratory in Accra for examination while the body had also been exhumed and examined upon the coroners’ request.
The Police intimated that, the body had been reburied, pointing out that, the suspect had four children with the deceased and that their whereabouts were not known.