A High Court in Accra has sentenced a mother of two to life imprisonment for murdering her husband following a domestic dispute at Omanjor in the Ga West Municipality in 2021.
The court found Lydia Aboagye guilty of murdering her husband, Kweku Gyasi, after a full trial. A seven-member jury returned a 5–2 majority verdict, the minimum majority required under Section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), as amended by the Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1101).
Justice Marie-Louise Simmons subsequently convicted Lydia Aboagye and sentenced her to life imprisonment.
Also read: NPP challenges government’s GH¢2 diesel relief, demands full account
The prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Christabel Selma Anafure, called three witnesses during the trial, while the accused, represented by Rita Kunkuti Ali, testified in her own defence and also called her mother as her only witness.
After reviewing the evidence, the jury deliberated for just 39 minutes before returning a 5–2 majority guilty verdict.
Before sentencing, the court invited the convict to make a final statement.
“I have nothing to say,” Lydia Aboagye told the court.
Delivering the sentence, Justice Simmons stated that the jury had found the accused guilty under Section 46 of Act 29, as amended by Act 1101, before imposing a life sentence.
The judge further informed the convict that she has one month from July 30, 2026, to appeal the conviction at the Court of Appeal.
According to the prosecution, Lydia Aboagye and Kweku Gyasi rented a single room in a house at Omanjor-Dwenewoho, near California School, where they lived with their two children.
In the early hours of November 3, 2021, at about 4:30 a.m., a misunderstanding broke out between the couple.
During the confrontation, prosecutors said the mother of two picked up a broken Coca-Cola bottle and stabbed her husband in the left side of his ribcage.
The prosecution further told the court that after noticing he was bleeding heavily, she allegedly locked him inside the room before walking about 150 metres away to dispose of the broken bottle in a nearby bush.
At about 5:30 a.m., the landlord, who had just returned from Fajr prayers, was alerted by his daughter after she heard unusual noises coming from the couple’s room while sweeping the compound.
The landlord forced open the locked door and found Kweku Gyasi lying in a pool of blood.
With assistance from neighbours and other tenants, the victim was rushed to the Ga West Municipal Hospital (Amasaman Government Hospital), where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
His body was later transferred to the Police Hospital mortuary for preservation and an autopsy.
According to prosecutors, Lydia Aboagye later returned to the room and attempted to clean bloodstains from the floor using a cloth.
Neighbours reportedly arrested her at the scene before handing her over to the police for investigation.
The High Court’s judgment brings to an end a nearly five-year legal process following the fatal domestic dispute that claimed the life of Kweku Gyasi.
Starrfm