Some sub chiefs in the Wa Naa's palace sanctioned the public flogging of the boy and girl in the Wa sex video, the police has told the Wa Circuit Court.

The name of the said sub chief was given in court on Thursday as the Degu Naa, Adam Seidu Pelpuo.

He is said to have given the final instruction for the flogging last Tuesday [May 31, 2022].

This was narrated by a police prosecutor, Sergeant Martin Degbortse when three suspects arrested on Wednesday for sanctioning the flogging were arraigned on Thursday.

The three accused persons who were arrested on Wednesday have been charged with causing harm.

They were arraigned at the Wa Circuit Court on Thursday (June 2, 2022) and the court granted them bail in the sum of GH¢3,000 with five sureties each.

They are to re-appear on June 13, 2022.

They are Bushran Khidri, a 34-year-old mobile phone repairer,  Naa Sidiki Osman, 62 and Duoho Naa Issahaque Mahama, 70.

Naa Osman and Naa Mahama are sub-chiefs of the Wala Traditional Council.

They are said to have sanctioned the public flogging of the two at the forecourt of the Wa Naa’s Palace last Tuesday but they in turn, have told the police that it was the Degu Naa, Adam Seidu Pelpuo who gave the final go ahead.

In Court

At the Wa Circuit Court on Thursday, Graphic Online's Emmanuel Modey reports that the presiding judge, Jonathan Avogo did not take the plea of the three accused persons because the police said investigations were not complete.

However, when the charge was read and interpreted to them in court, they looked cheerful and smiled to each other, Modey reported.

The Prosecutor, Sergeant Martin Degbortse told the Court that all the three suspects reside in Wa and play various roles at the Wala Traditional Council.

On June 1, 2022, Sergeant Degbortse said Khidri and others now at large incensed by a sexual video that was circulated on social media caused the arrest of the two  persons in the video and sent them to the Wa Naa’s Palace for arbitration.

They accused the two lovers of posting a sexual video of themselves on social media.

The Prosecutor said, the second and third accused persons Naa Osman and Naa Mahama respectively and other sub-chiefs who are now at large ordered that the two partners should be tied at the pole at the forecourt and flogged.

He said, three young men who are also yet to be arrested complied with the orders of the two-sub chiefs and flogged the victims to serve as a deterrent to others.

Sergeant Degbortse said it was in the process of inhuman treatment of the two victims that the video went viral on the social media and attracted the attention of the Police.

He said after the three were arrested, they mentioned Degu Naa Adam Seidu Pelpuo as the one who gave the final instruction for the flogging.

When the prosecution prayed for the suspects to be remanded into police custody to assist them in their investigation, the presiding judge declined on the grounds that remanding the three suspects was going to worsen the already volatile environment.

He advised the accused persons to cooperate for the arrest of the names (now at large) that they have provided to the police.

The judge also urged the police to expedite their investigations into the matter before the next adjourned date of June 13, 2022.

Background

A girl and a boy who were seen in a leaked sex video shared on social media were Monday picked up by some residents and flogged publicly in Wa.

They were paraded at the forecourt of the Wa Naa's Palace on Tuesday (May 31, 2022) and lashed by a group.

A video of the incident, which happened on Tuesday afternoon has been shared on social media.

The girl and boy had been seen having sex in a leaked video. The video had a date stamp of May 29 [Sunday]

This, did not go down well with some youth, who picked them up Tuesday, tied them to a pole at the forecourt of the Wa Naa's Palace and flogged them.

Graphic Online understands that there was a similar video earlier on, with another young girl who was seen advertising that she was a commercial sex worker, and does hook-ups.

In the earlier video, the girl admitted she was a commercial sex worker and was available for hook-ups.

The matter was reported to the elders at Wa and they decided that, anytime they come across any of such videos, they should look for the persons behind it and bring them to the elders, since Islam frowns on such acts.

The motive, was to serve as a deterrent to other young girls and boys from engaging in such acts in Wa, according to a source who hinted Graphic Online about the incident.

So, when this new video was spotted on social media, the youth went for the girl and boy, and paraded them Tuesday afternoon.

They had sent them to the Palace to ostensibly report them to the Wa Naa, but when they got there and the Wa Naa was not around, a decision was taken to give them 100 lashes each.

But that was later reduced to 20 lashes each.

 

It would be recalled that a similar incident happened at Kafaba near Salaga in the Savannah Region in July 2020, where a 90-year-old woman on the accusation that she was a witch was lynched.

The incident happened on Thursday, July 23, 2020 in the East Gonja Municipality.

One of the main suspects said to have spearheaded the lynching of the 90-year-old woman was arrested by the police.

The suspect Latifah Bumaye, 33, was arrested at Kejewu Bator, a fishing community near Salaga, the capital of the East Gonja Municipality.