A 48-year-old man, Abdallah Mohammed, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor by the Tamale High Court after being found guilty of defiling a 14-year-old girl.

The presiding judge, His Lordship Justice Charles Kwesi Acheampong, tacked on an additional six-month prison sentence for perjury after concluding that Mohammed gave false testimony under oath during his cross-examination.

The Dispute Over the Victim's Age

Throughout the extended trial, the victim's exact age served as a primary point of contention between the two legal teams:

- The Prosecution: Asserted the complainant was 14 years old.

- The Defence: Argued she was 18, with Mohammed claiming her physical maturity and verbal interactions indicated she was an adult.

To complicate the age verification process, the defense challenged the validity of a birth certificate presented by the state. They introduced an official report from the Births and Deaths Registry stating that the document in question was missing from national databases.

Despite the documentation discrepancy, Justice Acheampong ruled that the state had established the victim's age of 14 beyond a reasonable doubt. The court's decision relied heavily on personal testimonies delivered by the victim and her guardian, alongside records transferred from prior Circuit Court proceedings.

Final Rulings

Convinced by the state's case regarding the age of the minor, the court handed down the 15-year hard labor sentence for the defilement charge.

Mohammed did, however, escape conviction on a separate count of abortion. The court acquitted him on that specific charge, ruling that prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to prove he forced or induced the teenager to terminate her pregnancy.