[1964]DLSC144 • December 15, 1964 • Supreme Court •
AGBEMENYA vs. THE STATE
The appellant, a relation of the prosecutrix's mother and an apprentice fitter, was convicted of rape for an incident on 17 November 1963 at Ho. The prosecutrix, a 17-year-old girl, accompanied the appellant at his request to show him a driver's house nearby. Subsequently, the appellant requested her to accompany him to a friend's house where he locked the door and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. The prosecutrix testified to struggling and resisting, crying for help, and bleeding after the act. The appellant admitted intercourse but claimed it was consensual, alleging initial resistance that later ceased. The prosecution relied on the prosecutrix's testimony, blood-stained clothing, and the condition of the room as evidence of non-consent and struggle.
read moreJUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.S.C. Ollennu J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. This appeal is against the conviction of the appellant by the High Court, Ho, for rape. The trial was conducted with assessors. Most of the facts in the case are not in dispute, and are briefly as follows: The prosecutrix (the third prosecution witness) is a girl of seventeen years. She attended school at Keta, leaving in 1962. For at least four months immediately preceding 17 November 1963 (the date of the incident) she was living with her parents at Ho. The appellant is a relation of the mother of the prosecutrix, and is a frequent visitor to the family house. The appellant was an apprentice fitter at Ho. He qualified in November 1962, and thereafter obtained a job at Tema. He was in Ho on 17 November 1963. On the evening of that day, he visited the house of the prosecutrix and stayed for about one hour, leaving at about 7.45 p.m. At his request and with the consent of her mother, the prosecutrix accomp...