Boy 17, Beheaded By An Insane Man

Residents of Kwanyaako in the Twifo Hamang Lower Denkyira District of the Central Region witnessed the gruesome murder of a young boy on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, throwing the town into a state of mourning. Seventeen-year-old David Ansah, also known as Kwabena Darko, a second year student at Twifo Aduabeng D/A Junior High School (JHS), was beheaded on his way to the farm by Augustine Acquah, a man the community believed was mentally deranged. According to the victim’s mother, Madam Akua Birago, she sent the deceased and his younger brother to the farm to cut palm nut fruits around 1500 hours, but an hour later her younger son came running to tell her that a man had stabbed his brother in the stomach. A witness, Klhab Addae, told the Information Services Department at Kwanyaako that on his way to the farm that day, a spiritualist told him a patient from her prayer camp had bolted with a kitchen knife so he should mobilize people to disarm him. A search was mounted and Acquah was found with a blood drenched matchet and some few metres away, the search party found the body of the boy whose head had been severed off. According to the District Police Commander, DSP Cosmos Afena Damoah, the angry youth of the town lynched Acquah in retaliation. The District Police Commander had since the incident launched an investigation which led to the arrest of the female spiritualist, Elizabeth Ansah, who claimed Acquah was an epileptic patient rather than a lunatic. The spiritualist is currently on bail and has been reporting to the police at Twifo Praso. Meanwhile, the case has been referred to the Attorney-General’s office for advice, the police said.