A Pastor, believed to be in his 50s, has allegedly defiled and impregnated a 13-year-old JHS one (1) pupil (name withheld) in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The Pastor, whose name has been given as John, is currently in the grips of Police in Bolgatanga after he was remanded into police custody and will be facing the court again on Thursday 16th June, 2022.
The 13-year-old, who will turn 14 in August this year, is currently six months pregnant and now struggles to feed. Having lost the bread winner of the family, the 13-year-old, who was getting private school education, had to be moved to a public school after her mother also became mentally ill and now resorts to drinking.
The Pastor, who is aware of the inability of the grandmother to take proper care of the teenager, opted to help the girl get a school and when the family insisted on a nearby school in the community, where they reside, the Pastor after securing the school for her in the Bolgatanga township, asked the girl to move in with him in order to continue her education in her new school.
But almost six years after moving in, Pastor John in December 2021 after his wife left for Bible School allegedly took advantage of the situation and defiled the girl while promising her of a good life, the 13-year-old narrated to Dreamz News
This has left the grandmother distraught as she is struggling to take care of her sick daughter and two other siblings of the 13-year-old girl who is now six months pregnant.
For expectant mothers, it is expected that they begin to buy things that will be used to cater for the child after delivery especially when they are in their third trimester, but the girl and her grandmother are currently not in any position to buy items to take care of themselves and the new baby.
The poverty situation has left the girl and the grandmother wishing that Pastor John will be set free to cater for the girl’s needs.
Despite her pregnancy, the 13-year-old, who is desirous of becoming a midwife, wants to continue attending school until she is due for delivery since the current laws allow her the opportunity to be in school. Her only challenge remains commuting from her community to the Bolgatanga Township, which will cost her 8 cedis a day for transportation. She remains committed to continuing her education before and after delivery.
The country’s laws consider sex with someone below sixteen with or without the person’s consent as defilement since such a person is still viewed as a child and not in the right position to take important and life changing decisions for him or herself.
The recent jump in maternal deaths and complications is also traced to children getting pregnant when their bodies have not fully developed and prepared to carry pregnancy.
Meanwhile, a Programme Officer with Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, Augustina Achigibah, has decried the breakdown in morality which she said has led to the growing phenomenon of older men taking advantage of the vulnerability of many teenagers and abusing them and eventually impregnating some of them.
She described as unfortunate the involvement of religious leaders in the abuse of girls as she pleads for continuous sex education especially on steps girls can take to protect their rights and resist abuse.
