"Buttocks Boiling" Granparents Granted Bail

An Accra Circuit Court Thursday granted a GH�30,000.00 bail with three sureties to the grandparents of an 11-year-old girl whose buttocks were burnt because she wets her bed. The grandparents - Christina Torkonu, 50, a fish monger, and James Agbamavo, 65, an electrician - pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing harm to the girl. They are to reappear in court on March 5, 2013. When the two appeared in court, their counsel, Mr Gohoho, pleaded with the presiding judge to grant the accused persons bail because of their ages. According to him, the two did not commit the act intentionally, for which reason they should be granted bail. But the presiding judge, Selina Agbemava, said the granting of bail was not dependent on ages. The grandparents found themselves on the wrong side of the law after allegedly compelling their 11-year-old granddaughter, who is a bed wetter, to sit in a basin of hot water; an action which caused serious injuries to her buttocks and rendered her bedridden. They were arrested by the police following a tip-off by an informant. The facts of the case as presented by ASP Sarah Ekua Acquah are that the informant reported the incident on January 8, 2013 after the grandparents had kept the girl, a class three pupil in the room in an attempt to conceal the crime. The police responded swiftly to the information and with the help of the informant managed to locate the house, where the two suspects were arrested.