Police investigations into the reappearance of one Josephine Panyin Mensah, alleged to have been kidnapped while pregnant, indicates that she was not pregnant as reported.
A statement signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwesi Ofori, the Acting Director-General of Public Affairs, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said medical reports indicated that Ms Mensah was never pregnant within the period under review, according to examination by doctors at the Axim Government Hospital.
It said the victim, now a suspect, during interrogation mentioned the European Hospital in Takoradi as where she did reviews and assessment.
However, it said medical records at the facility suggested that she visited the Hospital without pregnancy in October, last year.
The statement said investigations also suggested that the suspect may have conspired with other persons over her possible planned disappearance.
It said on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, at about 0930 hours when Ms Mensah reappeared, she was immediately sent to the Axim Government Hospital for medical attention.
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Since Josephine’s disappearance, over 40 police officers were assigned to track her whereabouts on a 24-hour basis with regular updates to the family, the statement said.
It said three people had so far been arrested for further questioning on possible conspiracy charges.
More worrying was the fact that for a number of years the Regional Command had recorded several false kidnapping cases where people conspired to create “self kidnapping” incidents to make money out of ransoms, the statement said.
A team, with support from the National Headquarters, had been put together to quell the emerging crime in the Western Region, it said.
The statement gave the assurance that police would continue to revise security strategies to protect the people of the Region and the rest of the country.
Police had put adequate measures in place to ensure Ms Mensah was safe even as investigations continued, it said.
Ms Mensah allegedly disappeared on September 16, 2021, when she decided to take an early morning walk in her neighbourhood in Takoradi.
