Prima facie case established against accused in Wa defilement case

A Circuit in Wa on Friday said the State has established a prima facie case against Rashid Ahmed, alias Anaata in an alleged defilement case against him.

The accused person is expected to open his defence on September 1, 2023.

That was after Mr Emmanuel Banyesere, the investigator in the case, appeared before the Court presided over by His Honour Jonathan Avogo to testify in one of the four dockets built in the case.

A video that triggered the arrest and prosecution of Rashid was tendered and played in court as evidence.

The accused person had since not secured a lawyer, of which the court advised him to get one.

The court indicated it also wrote to the Legal Aid Department to provide the accused with a lawyer.

There were still three dockets remaining in the alleged defilement case to be testified by the investigator. 

So far, all nine survivors of the alleged defilement and the Medical Doctor had testified in all four dockets.

Speaking to the media after the court hearing on Friday, Mr Saeed Abdul Shakur, a Principal State Attorney in the Upper West Region, expressed confidence in securing a conviction against the accused.

“My opinion here doesn’t count much. It is the court’s opinion that counts, but we think that we have made a solid case, and we think that we should be able to secure conviction,” he intimated.

The case had been adjourned to Tuesday, August 29, 2023, for the investigator to testify in the remaining three dockets.

Rashid Ahmed, A.K.A. Anaata, a popular Master of Ceremony (MC) for Islamic Weddings in Wa, aged about 35 years, is standing trial for about 20 counts of defilement, attempted defilement and indecent assault, which he had denied in the court.

The suspected serial paedophile is alleged to have defiled about 30 girls in Wa aged between 12 and 15 years, but nine survivors had testified in the case.

Source: GNA