A Medical Officer at the Bolgatanga Hospital who examined the 13-year old girl defiled at Namolgo in Talensi district, is expected to release the report of an examination to the regional office of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.
Dr. Abraham Tiitigah examined the victim reported at the hospital with a police medical form following her defilement sometime in November 2016.
However, parents of the victim failed to raise Gh¢ 300 as service charge for the examination. As a result, the report was not released to the police and that has stalled investigations and prosecution of the case.
Dr. Patrick Atobrah, medical director of the Bolgatanga hospital in an interview with TopNews Ghana explained it was not out of place for the medical officer to charge for the service he provided.
According to him, the fees the doctor charged for meant for him to facilitate his movements to and from the court because he would have been the principal witness in the court for testifying what his results showed.
However, after news of the victim broke, Abdulai Jaladeen, Upper East Regional Director of CHRAJ, led some members of Regional Child Protection Committee to the Medical Director of the Bolgatanga hospital, Dr. Patrick Atobrah, to try and convince him to let the medical officer release the result.
Their discussion was successful as the medical director prevailed on the senior gynecologist who conducted the examination to release the result to pave way for the to prosecute the case.
Dr. Atobrah hinted the report will be ready this week and shall be presented to the police. He said the hospital will pay expenses to be incurred by Dr. Tiitigah because he will be going to court on the matter as the principal witness.
Source:www.topnewsghana.com
