The child’s body was found dumped beside an uncompleted building in Gomoa East, and police say investigations have begun.
A 19-year-old man is in police custody at Buduburam in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region over the suspected rape and killing of an 11-year-old girl.
The arrest was made by the Gomoa Buduburam Divisional Police Command, which is the police unit responsible for the Buduburam area. The Ghana Report carried details of the case, which has shaken a community best known as the site of a former refugee settlement on the Accra
toyoWinneba corridor.
What police say happened
According to preliminary police information, the suspect is accused of luring the girl into his room, sexually assaulting her and then killing her.
He is further alleged to have moved her body out of the room afterwards and left it beside an uncompleted building.
The crime came to light when residents traced a strong smell into nearby bush and found the child's partially unclothed body, which had already begun to decompose.
Police response
Officers from the Buduburam Divisional Command went to the scene and opened an investigation.
The body has been moved to the Police Hospital in Accra for examination. A post-mortem at that facility would normally be used to establish the cause of death and to gather forensic evidence that prosecutors can rely on in court.
Police have not released the name of the suspect or the victim. The exact circumstances of the alleged crime, including when it happened and how the suspect was identified, have not been made public. Investigations are continuing.
What happens next
Under Ghana's criminal justice process, a suspect in a case of this nature is expected to be put before a district court, which can remand him into custody while police complete their enquiries. A charge of murder is tried at the High Court. No charges had been announced at the time of the police statement, and the suspect has not been convicted of anything.
Why it matters
Defilement, which is the legal term in Ghana for sexual activity with a child under 16, carries a minimum sentence of seven years in prison on conviction. Cases involving the death of a child place heavy demands on local police commands, which often rely on community members to report what they have seen.
In this case, it was residents following an odour into the bush who found the body, a reminder of how much early detection depends on ordinary people speaking up.
For Ghanaians abroad with family in Gomoa East, the practical point is that the case is at an early stage. Details may change as police complete their investigation, and any firm account of what happened will come from the charge sheet and the court record rather than from early reports.
