Child neglect tops cases reported to Ashanti DOVVSU

Child neglect topped the list of cases reported to the police Domestic Violence and Victims’ Support Unit (DOVVSU) in the Ashanti Region last year.

Out of 2,416 cases it received, 1,264 had to do with neglect of parental duty.

Compared with the 2010 figure, this showed an increase of 241 cases, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) David Kwaku Amoako, Regional Coordinator, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on Tuesday.

He said the period saw a decline in cases of sexual abuse of children. There were 185 defilement cases as against 214 in the year 2010 and attributed the drop to stiffer punishment imposed on offenders by the courts as well as public education.

The incidence of rape, abortion, physical assault, abduction, sexual harassment and unlawful child removal were up, registering 47, 17, 350, 37, six and 98 cases, respectively.

The previous figure for rape was 39, that of abortion, 13, physical assault, 307, abduction, 32, sexual harassment, 1, and unlawful child removal, 64.

The Regional DOVVSU also recorded three cases of incest, a case each of sodomy, compulsory marriage and female genital mutilation.

DSP Amoako said during the year under review, they sent 143 criminal cases to the court and secured conviction of 51 of the offenders while one accused person was freed.  Eighty-Six cases are pending.

Source: GNA