Abesim Murder – Tears flow as IGP sympathises with bereaved families

Mourners could not control their tears when the Acting Inspector General of Police, Dr Geroge Akuffo Dampare, visited the bereaved families of the three young men, who were gruesomely murdered at Abesim, near Sunyani.

It was a solemn moment as the IGP led a high-powered police delegation to sing the popular hymn “it is well with my soul” to comfort the bereaved families.

Tragedy hit the farming community in the early hours of Saturday, when Richard Appiah, a popular footballer, allegedly murdered his 12-year-old relative, with two others and kept the body in a room.

Police have since retrieved and deposited the bodies of Louis Agyemang Junior, Stephen Sarpong and a yet to be identified body at a private mortuary at Mantukwa in the Sunyani West Municipality while the suspect was put in police custody.

Dr Dampare, who was in the town to assess the situation, described the incident as painful and assured the police would conduct expeditious investigations for justice to prevail.

Earlier, the IGP held closed discussions with Barimah Kumi Acheaw, the Chief of Abesim and Kyidomhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area and later visited the crime scene at Alaska, a new settlement.

Meanwhile, residents of the town expressed shock about the incident and described the suspect as calm and a reserved person.

They told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that Appiah was very friendly and an easy-going fellow and they were surprised to hear he had committed such a crime.

Mr Kwasi Kyei Baffour, who said the suspect was his childhood friend, explained it baffled him a lot, saying, “Rich cannot do this in his normal senses.”

“I know him very well. Though he easily gets offended, I did not anticipate he could commit this crime,” he added.

Barimah Acheaw, the chief of Abesim, told newsmen he anticipated the suspect had a mental problem, saying, “people had been testifying that his behaviour had changed in the past two weeks,” and, therefore, recommended the suspect for a psychiatric examination to aid police investigations.