A 35-year-old man at Ewusi-Joe in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region has shot and killed his wife for asking him to perform the marriage rites to legalise their 15-year-old marriage.
The marriage, which produced eight children, had the wife, Janet Yankeh, as the sole breadwinner of the family until her untimely death.
[contextly_sidebar id=”uwcLSgUZzQm1UpbP8meC4k1sTLppJdsX”]Currently, the eight children are in the custody of their grandmother, while their father, Jerry Essoh, is at large.
Janet, whose husband did not want to do any work but depended solely on her, had asked him to perform the marriage rites or she would leave the matrimonial home.
Deadline for marital rites
The police said when her “husband” failed to perform the rites at Christmas, Janet moved out of the house to her grandmother’s house in the same town and vowed to not return until the rites had been performed.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Agona Nkwantah District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Samuel Osei, said the suspect was currently at large, after depositing the gun he had used in killing his wife with its owner, who is his uncle.
He said at dawn yesterday, Janet, after several attempts to get Jerry to regularise their marriage had failed, decided to move out of their home.
Mr Osei said Janet’s sister, who was a food vendor in the town, requested some assistance from Janet to enable her to serve her customers during the festive season.
“When Janet was leaving the house, she gave their two-year-old son to her husband, with the message that she was going to assist her sister and also visit her grandmother before coming back home,” he said.
Failed persuasion
He said about 9 p.m. when his wife had not returned to the house, Jerry followed up to her grandmother’s house to persuade her to return to the house and take care of the children.
Unfortunately, Janet explained to him that she was tired of the marriage and wanted to move out of the relationship for the non-payment of her bride price.
The district police commander said after several attempts by Jerry to persuade his wife had failed about 11 p.m., Janet’s grandmother asked him to bring the two-year-old child to Janet to take care of him.
Weapon
“Instead, Essoh went to his uncle’s house to pick the uncle’s double-barrelled gun and headed straight to Janet’s grandmother’s house,” he said.
Mr Osei said information on the imminent attack went round and Janet and the entire household locked themselves up to escape Jerry’s wrath.
“The suspect, on reaching the house, asked that his wife should come out to tell him why she wanted an end to the marriage,” he said.
Hostage & ambush
According to Mr Osei, Janet said she would not open the door and that Jerry was at liberty to send her to any juju man.
“Just after that, a brother of Janet’s came and drove Jerry out of the house and after some time Janet came out to complete her chores,” he said.
He said unknown to Janet, Jerry did not go away but hid in a nearby bush.
Murder at 2 a.m.
The suspect came out of his hideout about 2 a.m. and shot at Janet, killing her instantly, and then bolted after returning the gun to the owner.
The police said there was an ongoing search for the suspect, while the owner of the gun had been arrested to help the police in their investigations.
The body of Janet has since been deposited at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital morgue pending autopsy.
Source: Graphic Onlne