Grasscutter Chase Costs Farmer’s Life

In his bid to kill a grasscutter that had been captured by one of his three dogs on a hunting expedition, a 35, year-old farmer resident at Odumase in the Sunyani West District of the Brong Ahafo Region lost his life when he was hit by his own single-barreled gun. The deceased, Baapene Kuuh, popularly known as Salifu Trumah, died on the way while being sent to hospital. Imosah Isshako and Baakowol Delu, who were with the deceased, are now in police custody assisting in investigations. The Sunyani Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Charles Botwe, confirmed the story to the Daily Graphic when he was contacted, and he stated that the deceased, with his other two relatives, went on a hunting expedition at Sesereso, a farmland about five kilometres away from Odumase, on Friday February 22, 2008. He said the deceased and the other two saw that one of the three dogs that accompanied them had captured a grasscutter and the deceased decided to rest his gun near a tree to go and kill the grasscutter. Supt Botwe said while the deceased was using a machete to create a path to where the dog had captured the grasscutter, his gun fell to the ground and went off instantly hitting the deceased in the leg. He stated that the group abandoned their expedition and carried the deceased to the roadside to look for a vehicle to transport him to the hospital but he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The police commander said the gun went off when it fell because there was a fault with the trigger guard. He said the wife of the deceased, Fatima Lewa, who was called in when the deceased was brought to the roadside, corroborated the story and told the police that her late husband before dying told her that it was his own mistake that caused his death and not his two brothers. Supt Botwe further said the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Regional Hospital morgue for autopsy.