AMA to rid Circle of mentally sick persons following the stoning of young man to death-AMA PRO

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is arranging to partner the Social Welfare Department to rid the streets of Accra of mentally deranged persons.

This comes at the back of the killing of a young man believed to be 19 years old and identified as Kwabena Amoani by a mentally ill woman.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the AMA, Gilbert Nii Ankrah in an interview with crimecheckghana.org stated that the incident was unfortunate and that the Assembly is taking steps to prevent a reoccurrence.

“The Accra Mayor convened an emergency meeting with public health officers in the Metropolis to deliberate on how to get mentally ill persons off the streets and take them to health facilities. It is also part of keeping the city clean,” he said.

Mr. Ankrah shared some words of condolences with the family of the deceased on behalf of the AMA while admonishing families to keep an eye on their relatives who have mental issues and not to abandon them.

He commended the Police for their intervention to save the mentally challenged woman from mob attack.

Mr. Ankrah said an Accra High Court has directed the police to send the suspect to a mental health facility for assessment after she was put before the court.

Meanwhile, there have been conflicting accounts on what may have caused the mentally ill woman to attack the deceased.

According to crimecheckghana.org reporter, Emelia Agyeibea who spoke to some eyewitnesses, many suggest that the woman intentionally murdered the young man for ritual purposes while others say the deceased may have angered the woman for persistently provoking her.

“After killing the young man, the woman licked his blood so she might be haunted by some kind of evil spirit. The police had a hard time arresting her but after she was rounded up she begged the police to release her. This means that she might be pretending she is mentally ill to take the young man’s life for rituals.” One of the eyewitnesses said.

“I saw the deceased following the woman when she was pelting stones at road users so I thought he was going to stop her. He followed her for a long time to atop the interchanged where she stoned the young man to death,” another eyewitness told Agyeibea.