The Wa Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Jonathan Avogo, has remanded a suspected serial paedophile in police custody to reappear in court on Monday, August 14.
Rashid Anaata, was remanded to enable the police conclude its investigations.
Mr Saeed Abdul Shakur, the Principal State Attorney in the Upper West Region, told journalists in Wa that the suspect was denied bail, considering the gravity of the crime he was suspected to have committed and the risk of reprisal attack on him by some members of the public.
Mr Shakur said “we are talking about a minimum of eight years and a maximum of 25 years in each of the counts. If we succeed with the case, he
might be going in for a long term, so if the court allows him bail, we might not get him to try.”
He said the remand was in the suspect’s interest because of the anger of the people and assured of a fast-tracked trial because of the immense public interest in the matter.
Mr Shakur cautioned the public against any attempt to influence the prosecution witnesses in the case and that offenders would be made to face the full rigours of the law.
In May 2023, the suspected paedophile fled Wa after he was accused by some girls of defilement in a viral video on social media.
It was alleged that Rashid Anaata defiled about 30 children in Wa.
Following the allegations by the girls, MrEliasu Baba Yussif, the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of Bahass Foundation in Wa, lodged a formal complaint with the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service on behalf of the alleged victims.
Rashid Anaata was first arrested in 2014 for allegedly defiling some children, but was let off the hook, which Mr Shakur attributed to the interference of some members of society.
Mr Shakur, however, said “this time round we have all plans in place to ensure that nobody goes behind anywhere to touch any of the witnesses, we are going through this trial, and we are doing it expeditiously, the evidence is solid.”
Scores of members of the public thronged the court premises on Monday morning, to catch a glimpse of the suspect in court. —GNA
