A High Court in Accra has sentenced a mother of two, Lydia Aboagye, to life imprisonment after finding her guilty of murdering her husband during a domestic dispute at Omanjor in 2021.
The conviction followed a full trial, with a seven-member jury returning a 5-2 majority guilty verdict, which satisfies the requirements under Section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, as amended by the Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1101).
Presiding judge, Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, convicted Lydia Aboagye and imposed the mandatory life sentence after the jury’s decision.
The prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Christabel Selma Anafure, called three witnesses during the trial. The accused, represented by Rita Kunkuti Ali, testified in her own defence and called her mother as her sole witness.
Before sentencing, the court invited the convict to make a statement, but she replied: “I have nothing to say.”
Justice Simmons subsequently sentenced her to life imprisonment and informed her that she had one month from July 30, 2026, to file an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
Incident
According to the prosecution, Lydia Aboagye, a petty trader, lived with her husband, Kweku Gyasi, and their two children in a single room at Omanjor-Dwenewoho in Accra.
In the early hours of November 3, 2021, a misunderstanding reportedly broke out between the couple. During the altercation, the prosecution said Aboagye picked up a broken Coca-Cola bottle and stabbed her husband in the left rib.
The court heard that after the stabbing, she locked the injured man inside the room and allegedly disposed of the broken bottle in a nearby bush about 150 metres away.
About an hour later, the landlord, alerted by his daughter after hearing unusual noises, forced open the locked room and found the victim lying in a pool of blood.
Neighbours helped rush him to the Ga West Municipal Hospital, popularly known as the Amasaman Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police later conveyed the body to the Police Hospital mortuary for preservation and an autopsy.
According to the prosecution, the accused returned to the house later and was found attempting to clean blood from the room before neighbours apprehended her and handed her over to the police.
By: Murtala Inusah
