A woman who threw boiling palm nut soup on her boyfriend’s wife has been ordered by the Amasaman Circuit Court to pay a fine of 100 penalty units (GH¢1,200).
Afia Agyeiwaa simply admitted to inflicting harm on Madam Vida Ntiamoah when she was arraigned in November 2023, but her sentencing was deferred until February 15, 2024.
Agyeiwaa, who was pregnant at the time and is now a two-month-old nursing mother, asked the Court presided over by Madam Enid Marfo-Sau for leniency.
In pronouncing the sentence, the court considered her status as a nursing mother, as well as the fact that Madam Vida, the complainant, had notified the prosecution that the situation had been settled amicably at home.
The Court was also informed on the day of judgment that the complainant wanted to discontinue the trial, but the Court ruled it was too late and committed to take that into account in sentence.
Police Chief Inspector Frederick Awuah-Ansah had previously informed the Court that Madam Vida, the complainant, is a trader residing in Mayera Dunyo.
Afia Agyeiwaa, was a seven-month-old pregnant woman who was unemployed and resided at Mayera Dunyo.
Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah stated that the complainant’s spouse, Kwadwo Dwuma, is a fetish priest who has four children.
He stated that Agyeiwaa was the complainant’s husband’s girlfriend and that the complainant and her spouse had previously managed his shrine but had stopped owing to circumstances.
The prosecution claimed that in 2022, the complainant’s husband advised her that if she did not assist him with his work again, he would seek help from someone else, to which the complainant agreed.
The Court heard that in the same year, the complainant’s husband went to Asante Akyem Agogo and brought Agyeiwaa into the house where he lived with the complainant.
Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah said they all lived in the same compound but in different apartments.
He said that since Agyeiwaa entered the house, she had been insulting the complaint, but she ignored her.
On September 19, 2023, the complainant was making a meal in front of her room when she went to retrieve something from the kitchen.
According to Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah, Agyeiwaa, who was cooking behind the kitchen, confronted the complainant after noticing her standing in one of the rooms and watching her through a window.
Agyeiwaa then insulted the complainant, calling her a stupid woman and a village woman, among other abusive words.
The complainant responded that if she were a village woman, Agyeiwaa’s mother was also a villager, and she left, the prosecution told the court.
Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah said when the complainant returned to the kitchen to pick something, the convict saw her and took the hot palm nut soup she was preparing from the fire and poured it on her back and neck in front of her husband.
The complainant then lodged a complaint with the police, who issued her a medical report form to go to the hospital for treatment and then report back.
This resulted in Agyeiwaa’s arrest, and following an investigation, she was prosecuted and brought to court, police said.