The Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) has noted with great unease, a video circulating on the media where a lady suspected to have stolen GHS 1,100 on Friday was stripped naked, beaten, and paraded barefooted on the streets of Kejetia by a crowd of men. These men forced open her legs to take pictures and videos of her vagina, while others inserted their toes into her reproductive organ, flogging her on the buttocks and her plea for mercy was not heard. She was stripped of all her clothes with the exception of her red bra and felt too weak to defend herself so she laid helpless on the street.

HRAC condemns this act and finds it debasing, dehumanizing and in utmost violation of the right of the victim enshrined under Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. Article 15 provides:

1. The dignity of all persons shall be inviolable.
2. No person shall, whether or not he is arrested, restricted or detained be subjected to –

• (a) torture or other cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.
• (b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from dignity and worth as a human being.

The criminal offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) also states under section 84, that whoever unlawfully assaults any person is guilty of misdemeanor. This case falls on all fours with the provisions under section 86 of Act 29 which defines the scope of assault and battery. The perpetrators of these heinous acts should be punished in order to deter others from repeating or even contemplating on repeating such violent acts.
The Human Rights Advocacy Centre therefore urges the police, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and other stakeholders to expedite action on getting justice for the victim. HRAC will also take all the necessary steps to ensure that the right of the victim is enforced and ensure that justice is duly served.
Human Rights Advocacy Centre
Osu, Ako-Adjei. Accra
0302768733