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| Pastor Isaac Asante |
The Tesano Police have arrested a pastor of a church based at Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra, for raping a church member.
“After drinking anointing oil given to me by Pastor Isaac Asante, I instantly felt dizzy and the next moment, I saw my pastor lying on me and having sex with me right on the bare floor…..”
These were the words of an 18-year old Senior High School leaver who accused an associate pastor of the Sowutuom church, Pastor Isaac Asante, of sexually assaulting her.
She said the matter was reported to the Tesano Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit which arrested the pastor, but he was released by the police without the matter being taken to court.
“I spent three days on admission at the Police Hospital and upon my discharge, I was told Pastor Isaac, who was arrested, had been freed by the police without the matter going to court,” the victim claimed.
In an interview with the father of the victim, John Kwarteng, at the offices of Daily Guide, he alleged that he received a telephone call from the coordinator in charge of the Tesano DOVVSU, DSP Sophia Ennin, suggesting to him to settle the matter out of court instead.
“Even though doctors who attended to my daughter at the Police Hospital confirmed in the doctor’s report that my daughter’s hymen was broken, and also confirmed that she had been raped, the police freed the suspect after several interventions from his senior pastors,” Mr Kwarteng alleged.
Attempts to speak to the Tesano DOVVSU Commander were not fruitful.
Mr Kwarteng therefore called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to intervene in the matter, especially after it had been discovered that his innocent daughter who went to the church for prayers, was instead raped by a pastor.
The 18-year-old victim narrated that she met Pastor Asante on whatsapp, after he had posted an advertisement that they were having a special anointing service.
“I then got in touch with Pastor Asante and since then we constantly met on the platform for a chat about life and religion.
“One day while we were chatting, Pastor Asante told me to see him immediately around 5:00pm on March 12, 2014 for special prayers since he had a revelation about me and wanted to pray for me.
“He also asked me to put on something red for the special prayers but on that day when I was leaving, I forgot and wore a black and white attire.”
She said Pastor Asante was not happy upon seeing her attire and consequently handed her a red handkerchief for the special prayers.
“We went into a room he claimed was their consulting room and collected the red handkerchief from me to pray on it.
“Pastor Asante took an olive oil from his pocket, mixed something with it and gave it to me to drink, claiming that it will drive any evil spirit from me.
“After taking the oil however, I felt dizzy and fell on the ground and when I regain consciousness, I discovered my pastor lying on me, and having sex with me on the floor.
“I also felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and blood oozing from my vagina after the act.
“Pastor Asante, in the process, warned me not to tell anyone or he would personally kill me, and went ahead to wipe the blood on my thighs and those that had dropped on the floor with the red handkerchief, but later put it into his pocket.”
The victim said she went straight home with the pain and reported the matter to her parents who also reported it to the Tesano DOVVSU.
“A hospital form was given to me for medical attention at the Police Hospital. I spent three days on admission at the Police Hospital and when I was discharged, I was told the suspect had been freed by the police on grounds of health.”
