Families of murdered Takoradi girls renew fight for DNA results, state burial
Families of the murdered Takoradi girls have renewed their demand for details of the DNA test conducted on the victims.
They have questioned why the police have refused to provide the test results a year after the said medical examination was conducted.
According to them, it is hard to believe the police report that the girls are dead especially when the bodies and DNA results have still not been made available to the families.
At a news conference organised by the Concerned Mothers Movement in Diabene on Monday, the families demanded that the bodies be released to them to enable them conduct independent DNA tests.
“We are demanding a copy of the DNA test because till now, the family has not received any report that indeed the test was conducted,” said Rebecca Quayson, sister of one of the murdered girls.
“Secondly, the families want to conduct their own DNA test. If the police are saying these girls are truly dead, we ask that they are given a state burial. The government also has to give financial support to the families because it hasn’t been easy”, she said on behalf of the families.
Ruth Abakah, 19; Priscilla Blessing Bentum, 21; Ruth Love Quayson,18 and Priscilla Koranchie, 15, went missing between July and December 2018 in one of the most talked-about criminal cases in recent times.
The incident triggered a national discussion with many public protests staged especially in Takoradi to demand the return of the girls and impress upon the government to act swiftly.
It emerged later that, human parts found in a sewage system in Takoradi near the home of the main suspect in the case were said to be that of the girls.
After the discovery of the skeletal remains on 2nd August 2019 and upon further investigations including the results of the DNA samples taken from the families, the accused persons were charged with conspiracy and murder.
Meanwhile, the Sekondi High Court Presided over by Justice Richard Agyei Frimpong has sentenced to death two Nigerians, Sam Udeotuk Wills and John Orji for their involvement in the kidnapping and murder of four girls.