A farmer, believed to be in his late 30s, is in the grip of the Agona Swedru Division of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for allegedly having sexual intercourse with his daughter. The suspect, Kofi Awuakye, lived with his 13-year-old daughter (name withheld) at Nkwanta Eshiem, a village near Agona Otsenkorang in the Agona West Municipality in the Central Region. According to the police, Awuakye had since the beginning of this year, sexually abused his daughter more than seven times and warned her not to inform anyone about it, else he would either kill or drive her away from the house. The police stated further that the victim on many occasions resisted the father’s action but Awuakye’s threat to disown or stop taking care of her compelled the daughter to give in to his sexual advances. However, at a point the victim started experiencing unbearable pains in her genitals which emboldened her to inform an elderly person in the village of her predicament, leading to Awuakye’s eventual arrest. Confirmation The Acting Station Officer at the Swedru Divisional Office of DOVVSU, Inspector Gloria Anim Obeng, said the victim, who could no longer keep her ordeal to herself, confided in an elder in the village. She said the elder informed other people and Awuakye was arrested last Thursday and handed over to the police in Agona Nyakrom. The case was later transferred to Agona Swedru. Inspector Obeng said a medical form was issued to the victim to seek medical attention at the Swedru Government Hospital. She said doctors who examined her confirmed that “there is a huge opening in the victim’s genitalia.” The station officer added that the suspect was in police custody and would be charged with incest and defilement, and put before court. Strained relationship The marriage between the suspect and the mother of the victim, whose identity the police did not disclose, is said to have broken up a few years ago. As a result, the victim’s mother left home, leaving the victim in the custody of her father who lived alone in a single room apartment at Nkwanta Eshiem. According to the police, the absence of the victim’s mother from home enabled Awuakye to allegedly take advantage of his biological teenage daughter. The teenager has been handed over to her uncle at Gomoa Gyaman, near Agona Swedru.