Last updated on Tuesday, 7th September, 2010, at 06:55am
Lamptey Mills denies impregnating 16 year old
By Samuel Osei/citifmonline.com | Fri 11th September, 2009 12:55 GMT
Proprietor of Great Lamptey Mills, Enoch Nii Laptey Mills
Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills, proprietor of Great Lamptey Mills School in Accra has denied impregnating a 16 year old former student of his school and subsequently forcing her into marriage.
 
Mr. Lamptey Mills was reportedly arrested on Thursday by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for allegedly performing the marriage rites to make  his 16-year-old victim his wife, after impregnating the girl who was then a student of Great Lamptey Mills Senior High School at Kasoa. 
 
He has been formerly charged with forcibly marrying a minor and failing to take responsibility as a father. 
 
However Speaking to Citi News on Friday, Mr. Enoch Lamptey Mills denied ever committing the alleged crime.
 
He accused the Daily Graphic, which published the story on Friday, for peddling falsehood and using its front page to destroy him and to tarnish the image of his school.
 
“It is completely false. If somebody has brought you a false story, why can’t you call me to find out? Nobody called me. I didn’t know anything about it till this morning…I think the front page of the Daily Graphic is only designed to destroy people.” He said
 
He added that  “I would come out soon with a press release soon to clear my
It's completely false. If somebody has brought you a false story, why can't you call me to find out? Nobody called me. I didn't know anything about it till this morning
image”.
 
The victim, name withheld and now 17 years, is reportedly a former student of the school at Kasoa in the Central Region.
 
A source said the parents of the victim detected that the girl was pregnant and when she was interrogated, she said the proprietor was responsible.
 
According to the source, the family of the victim sent a delegation to the proprietor, who asked that the pregnancy  be aborted because of his reputation but they objected to his suggestion.
 
After two months, the source said, the suspect met the family of the victim and performed the marriage rites and promised the victim a house, upkeep of the child and sponsorship to continue her education.
 
His promises turned out to be a hoax when after giving birth, maintenance of the baby became a problem, the source said, adding that in June this year, the Unit got wind of the case and started its investigations.
 
The source reminded the public that the Children’s Act 560, 1998 section 14 subsection two, indicates that the minimum age of marriage of whatever kind should be 18 and that a person who contravenes the law would be liable to a fine not exceeding GHc 500.00 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year.
 
Mr. Lamptey Mills has reprtedly been granted bail following his arrest on Thursday.
 

 

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