The Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Police, has arrested a 40-year-old man who married a 16-year-old girl under duress. Ibrahim Umar, a Nigerian businessman, was arrested on Tuesday, barely a week after the Ghanaian Times newspaper broke the news. He was charged with forced marriage and was later granted Police enquiry bail. According to the Ashanti Regional Police Coordinator of the DOVVSU, D.S.P. Kwaku Amoako, the girl's parents; Mohammed Ali and Hawa Umar, also Nigerians, were arrested on Tuesday, April 26, for collecting the sum of GH¢3,300 from Ibrahim and given their daughter out for marriage. Mr. Ibrahim, at the Police station on Tuesday, told the Ghanaian Times newspaper that the girl's parents collected GH¢5,600 from him, adding that, he did not know the girl is a minor. However, the victim’s father has been granted a bail of GH¢3, 300, whilst her mother is on self-cognisance bail because she is pregnant. Briefing the Ghanaian Times, D.S.P Amoako said that the girl was forced into an arranged marriage which violates the section 15(D) of the Criminal Code. The section stipulates that, ‘‘consent is void if it is obtained by deceit or under duress.’’ He said the marriage took place at the residence of the girl’s parents at Abrem, near Antoa, on February 18, after which the girl was moved to Ibrahim’s house at Achiase. The girl, he said, stayed with her husband and his three children from an earlier marriage. The 16-years-old pupil feeling uncomfortable with the marriage, particularly, because her husband had declined to let her continue with her education, was said to have told a friend of how she got into the wed-lock. According to D.S.P. Amoako, the victim’s friend, whose name was not mentioned, informed the DOVVSU about the victim’s plight which led to the arrest of the victim’s parents while Ibrahim went into hiding until the day when he was finally caught. In an interview with the Ghanaian Times, the victim said it has been her desire to become a medical doctor in future. She also said there was nothing she could do to prevent her parents from getting her into the marriage, but her husband gave her the assurance of allowing her to continue with her education. Currently, she is staying with her friend who reported the matter to the Police, while the DOVVSU arranges for her to go back to school. The victim’s mother, who is said to have collected GH¢800, out of the total amount of money which was sent to them as the bride price, told the Police that she could not resist the pressure from her daughter’s husband. Source: The Ghanaian Times