Pati Bande, an 18-year-old herdsman, has been remanded by a Circuit Court in Wa for allegedly killing and burying his 14-year-old younger brother, Haruna Rashid. 

The Court, presided over by His Worship, Maxwell Maxibrain Titriku remanded the suspect into police custody to enable the police to complete investigations and to return to court on January 24, 2025.

The facts of the case presented to the court by Detective Sargent Appiah Samuel, the investigator in charge of the case, indicated that the incident occurred at Duwie, a community in the Sissala West District.

The Court heard that Mr Haruna Bande, aged 50, a herdsman and father of the accused person and the victim, reported the incident to the Gwollu District Police Command on January 7, 2025, at about 1030 hours.

According to the facts presented to the court at the weekend, Pati Bande, the suspect cut off the victim's head and penis and removed the heart.

It said the body was placed in a sack and buried in the bush while the head, heart, and penis that were cut off were also buried around the cattle ranch at the complainant’s house at Duwie.

The Court heard that the suspect was, therefore, arrested at the Duwie Chief Palace and the police informed. 

Upon receipt of the information, the police together with Mr Munkailo Waah, a Physician Assistant at Gwollu Hospital, and Mr Alhassan Abdul Razak, an Environmental Officer, proceeded to the palace and met the regent of Duwie, Kanwei Haruna, the deceased’s father and the suspect, Bande Pati. 

The suspect, Bande Pati, together with his father and opinion leaders led the team to a nearby bush where the suspect pointed to a valley where he buried the victim’s body.

The body was exhumed and found deceased in a sack and spot inspections were conducted on the body and realised that the head, penis, and heart were removed. 

The fact sheet added that upon further inquiries, the suspect led the police again to his father's house and pointed at a cattle ranch where the head, heart, and penis of the victim were also found buried, about a kilometer away from where he buried the main body. 

The parts were also exhumed and an examination was conducted on the deceased body by Mr  Munkailo Waah, the Physician Assistant.

According to the fact sheet, the Physician assistant gave verbal cause of death as decapitation due to cutting off the head completely. 

In his caution statement, the suspect, Pati Bande, admitted having murdered his junior brother, Haruna Rashid, at the cattle ranch after they returned from the bush with the cattle around 0500 hours.

He did not explain the reason behind the killing.