Trader in brawl with co-tenant

By Helena Selby

A trader has been arraigned before an Accra circuit court for allegedly inflicting wounds on a co-tenant, over an allegation of her being a lesbian.
The accused person, Ayishetu Amidu, who is said to be at loggerheads with the complainant, became furious after she heard rumors of the complainant tarnishing her image in the neighbourhood.

She allegedly hit the complainant with an object on her forehead, after the complainant labeled her as a thief and a lesbian, who engages in the said act with the landlady’s daughter.
She pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing harm, contrary to section 69 of act 29/60, before the court presided over by Mrs. Patience Mills-Tetteh.
She has been admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with one surety, and expected to re-appear before the court on March 27, 2012.

Narrating the facts of the case, the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Charles Chester, told the court that the accused person had a long outstanding difference with the complainant for about three years due to a false allegation leveled against her by the complainant.

He said the complainant was alleged to have leveled an unsubstantiated allegation on the accused person that she had stolen her undisclosed amount of money and some quantity of provisions from her store. This, he said, created some ill feelings between the two of them, but was later resolved by the landlady.
According to the Prosecutor, in early February 2012, one Amama was alleged to have told the accused person that the complainant had still been insulting her in the neighbourhood that she was a thief.

“Moreover, the said Amama told the accused person that the complainant had accused her of being a lesbian, and that she is practicing it with the landlady’s daughter. The accused person upon hearing, became peeved, igniting their ill feelings,” the prosecutor indicated.
Chief Inspector Chester noted that in February, the accused person told her husband to warn the complainant to desist from her constant backbiting, but the she became furious and began shouting.

He mentioned that the accused person, on seeing the reaction of the complainant, also became very furious and hit her with an object on her forehead, resulting in a deep cut.
Chief Inspector Charles Chester, therefore, told the court that the complainant was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital as a result of the deep cut she sustained, and was admitted for three days and discharged afterwards.

The prosecutor emphasised that both the accused person and the complainant reported at the police station and were issued with police medical forms to attend hospital and report, adding that during investigations, the accused person denied hitting the complainant with an object.