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A 20-year-old mason was yesterday sentenced to 25 years� imprisonment with hard labour by an Accra circuit court for defiling a minor. The court, presided over by Mrs. Rita Agyeman Budu, found the accused person, Anina Guamah Gyasi, guilty of the offence of having carnal knowledge of the victim, aged 9 years. At the trial, the accused admitted the offence and was accordingly convicted on his own plea. The facts of the case as presented by ASP A. Suleman are that the complainant, Nii Akwashong, 63, is a poultry farmer and grandfather of the victim who lives with the biological father at Adjeiman, a suburb of Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region. She said the accused is also a mason in the same vicinity and that he often goes to the village of the complainant to work. The prosecutor said at about 9:00 pm on October 19, 2014, the victim was in her room fast asleep when Gyasi sneaked in, grabbed her by the neck and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her. ASP Suleman disclosed that after the act, blood begun oozing from the victim�s mouth and vagina, adding that the father of the victim, upon his return, heard some unusual sound from his room and quickly entered to meet the victim in a pool of blood with Gyasi standing by with blood stains in his palms. The police officer said the victim escaped while the victim was attended to by the father until Gyasi�s arrest by some young men hired by the father. ASP Suleman said the victim was then sent to the Nsawan Government Hospital where she was admitted for three days while Gyasi was handed over to the Amasaman police for investigation. Gyasi, the police officer stated, admitted the offence in his caution statement.