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The Tamale High Court has sentenced 48-year-old Abdallah Mohammed to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour after convicting him of defiling a 14-year-old girl.
Presiding judge, Justice Charles Kwesi Acheampong, also imposed an additional six-month jail term on Mohammed for perjury after finding that he had lied under oath during cross-examination.
A major issue during the trial was the age of the victim. While the prosecution maintained that the complainant was 14 years old, Mohammed insisted she was 18, arguing that her physical appearance and interactions with him made him believe she was an adult. The defence further challenged a birth certificate presented by the prosecution, citing a report from the Births and Deaths Registry which indicated that the document could not be traced in its records.
Despite the challenge, the court relied on the testimony of the victim and her guardian, as well as evidence from earlier Circuit Court proceedings. Justice Acheampong ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the complainant was 14 years old at the time of the offence and consequently convicted Mohammed of defilement. However, the court acquitted him on a separate abortion charge, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish that he had induced the victim to terminate a pregnancy.