A 24-year-old labourer, Abdul Malik, has pleaded not guilty to charges of child abduction after being accused of unlawfully detaining five children at Mallam Market in Accra.
The case, which is being heard at the Dansoman Circuit Court was presided over by Her Honour Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit.
Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Emelia Mensah, presented the charges against Malik under Section 91 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
According to the charge sheet, the incident occurred on April 6, 2025. Malik is accused of detaining five boys – Marvin Asani, 9, Shadrach Atanga, 7, Prince Nyaba, 10, Cosmos Abalem, 9 and Roger Amankwa, 11- and preventing them from returning to the care of their parents.
Brief facts presented in court indicated that the children, all residents of Mallam Market, were playing football in their compound when they encountered the accused.
Malik allegedly lured them into his kiosk under the pretext of helping him locate someone named Gaspar.
Once inside, he played videos and told stories, detaining the children from 1:00 p.m. until around 8:00 p.m.
The Parents who had been searching for their children reportedly heard voices from Malik’s kiosk. Upon forcing the door open, they found all five boys inside with the accused.
When questioned, Malik allegedly claimed he was “teaching them vocabularies.” He was subsequently arrested and taken to the Mallam Lafa Police Station, where he reportedly admitted to the offence in his caution statement.
Despite the admission, Malik entered a plea of not guilty in court. Her Honour ordered that the accused remain in police custody until further notice.
The case has been adjourned to April 28, 2025.
The post Labourer pleads not guilty to child abduction at Mallam Market appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
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