The youth of Wa in the Upper West Region on Wednesday evening clashed with the police over the arrest of three persons who allegedly instigated the public flogging of two lovers whose sex tape leaked on social media.
Eighteen of the rampaging youth were arrested after they besieged the Upper West Regional Police headquarters to demand the release of Sidiki Osman, Bushiran Khigir and Issahaku Mahama.
The police, according to eyewitnesses, had to fire warning shot to restore calm. The law enforcement agency says the suspects including the protesters will be arraigned in court soon.
“The police are pursuing the remaining suspects to arrest them to face justice,” a statement from the police said.
What we know so far
The two lovers were publicly flogged by irate youth in the community for recording themselves while having sex.
The 20-year-old man and 18-year-old woman were paraded in front of the courtyard of the Wa Naa’s Palace and lashed by the irate youth who had dragged the two there to report them to the chief.
The executive director of a human rights group in the North, Songtaaba Lamnatu Adam said the action by the community members is disrespectful and inhumane.
“To have these young people flogged and humiliated in this manner for me it’s a gross disrespect for their human right and it’s unacceptable.
“And I think that we must not as a country let this continue, to let people take laws into their own hands and publicly humiliate people like this irrespective of their age, sex and gender,” Adam said.
Dehumanising
Meanwhile, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has said the flogging of the two young persons, as captured in a video, is “humiliating, dehumanising, demeaning and degrading.”
The GBA said the act amounts to the violation of their fundamental human rights, and an attack on their persons.
“The GBA is therefore calling on the relevant security agencies to arrest all persons involved in the physical abuse of the two young persons, investigate the incident and ensue that the perpetrators are prosecuted in accordance with law,” the statement said.
Read the full statement from GBA:
