Wife ‘Killer’ Loses Fight Over Corpse
An application for interlocutory injunction by Prince Charles Dedjoe, a businessman, to halt the burial of his late wife by her family, has been dismissed by an Accra High Court.
The accused person, who is standing trial for allegedly murdering his wife, has been charged with murder and is currently in detention.
He has filed an application before the court seeking to stop the deceased’s family from burying her in his absence.
Mr. Dedjoe last month filed an application for interlocutory injunction against the family of his late wife who wanted to bury her, arguing that he was in custody and that the family could not proceed with the burial and funeral rites of his late wife, Lillian Dedjoe in his absence.
Dedjoe’s lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, argued in court that the deceased’s head of family had accused the husband wrongly which had caused him so much pain and bad publicity.
The application averred that Lillian Dedjoe died of head injury and not from the slap as her father had told the public.
He said the accused person believes he owed the wife a duty to bury her. According to him, if the family buries her without him, that will be a dent on his reputation.
Counsel further argued that there exists special circumstances upon which the application ought to be granted since the accused has been in custody for two months now.
The application was opposed by the prosecution which argued that the accused had no right over the deceased’s body.
It said the accused person is still in police custody and no one knows if he will be granted bail.
The prosecution added that the accused has no right to hold the deceased’s family back in their quest to bury her.
The court, presided over by Justice Rebecca Sittie, in its ruling, held that the deceased’s family had a right to bury their loved one as the corpse belonged to the extended family.
The court found that the scale of inconvenience lies heavily on the family if the deceased is not buried as planned, adding that, the authority of ‘what to do with the corpse’ rests with the wife’s family.
Again, Justice Sittie held that it is the duty of the extended family to give the deceased a befitting burial and therefore the accused person’s presence or absence will not make any difference.
“The family can therefore, go ahead with preparations to bury the deceased. The application is accordingly dismissed,” the court ruled.
‘Murder’
Mr. Dedjoe, Chief Executive Officer of Chadeco Group Of Companies Limited, was arrested on Independence Day, March 6, 2021 after his father-in-law reported the alleged murder of his daughter to the East Legon Police, Accra.
The 43-year-old woman, Lillian, according to police’s initial information, died after reportedly slipping and falling off the stairs at their East Legon home.
However, the father of the deceased, according to the police, later accused the suspect of assaulting his daughter, leading to her death.
The couple was married for some years, a union blessed with two children.
The relationship however, reportedly, turned sour, leading to the wife suffering alleged assaults from the man.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak