A 63-year-old man, Kwabena Osei, missed this year�s Christmas celebration when he was remanded in prison custody for an alleged arson on his ex-wife�s room at Assin Nsuta in the Assin South District in the Central Region.
Osei, also known as Concern, is said to have set fire to the room of his ex-wife, Madam Afua Amoabemaa, 50, following her refusal to return to her matrimonial home.
He is to re-appear before the Assin Fosu Magistrate�s Court, presided over by Mr Kwame Ohene Mensah, on December 30, 2013 on a charge of arson.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Police Kwabena Owusu-Bempah, the Assin Fosu District Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Osei and Amoabemaa have been married for the past 13 years without an issue.
Mr Owusu-Bempah said besides this predicament, Osei had been accusing Amoabemaa of infidelity.
He said Amoabemaa, who could not withstand the disparaging remarks her ex-husband made about her, decided to back out of the union and therefore presented customary drinks to Osei�s family for that purpose.
Mr Owusu-Bempah said on December 14, Amoabemaa returned home to find Osei in her house. He had come to plead for reconciliation.
According to the ASP Owusu-Bempah, Amoabemaa declined the request, and in the course of the discussion the meeting degenerated into hot verbal exchanges.
In the wee hours of that night, ASP Owusu-Bempah said, Osei was spotted in a taxi by some young men who were returning from a video show, with a gallon suspected to contain petrol.
The district commander said the young men, who were privy to what transpired between Osei and Amoabemaa earlier during the day, trailed Osei, who had sneaked into the back of the room of his ex-wife.
Hardly had Osei emerged from behind the room in an attempt to escape than they saw fire coming from that portion of the house.
The young men, according to ASP Owusu-Bempah, shouted for help. Amoabemaa and the rest of the household were awakened by the noise and they were assisted by some of their neighbours to put out the fire.
The young men, together with others, later constituted a search party to search for Osei and they succeeded in arresting him in the bush on the outskirts of the town.
He was handed over to the police who arraigned him before court.
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