A father missed his target and chopped off the leg of his 21-month-old baby girl at Kojo Armah, near Agona Swedru, in the Central Region, as a confrontation between spouses turned violent.
Mr Mawuli Bosso, the 37-year-old man, had a misunderstanding with his wife, Joana Amamoo, and pulled a machete on the woman in a fit of rage only for his weapon to land on the right leg of his daughter.
Ms Amamoo, assisted by some neighbours, rushed the little girl to the Swedru Government Hospital, but doctors discovered after examination that the leg had been damaged severely and had to be amputated.
Other neighbours around arrested Mr Bosso and handed him over to the police.
Police confirmation
Confirming the incident to the Daily Graphic at Agona Swedru yesterday, the Station Officer at the Swedru Divisional Office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector Gloria Anim Obeng, said the couple, who lived at Kojo Armah, had had a strained relationship which compelled Ms Amamoo to leave her matrimonial home to rent a room in the same community.
She said in the night of last Friday, the woman went to the husband’s house to pick some of her belongings, but realised that Mr Bosso had destroyed some of her clothes, which resulted in a confrontation between them.
Ms Amamoo, however, returned to the husband’s house the following day, and the husband asked her to cook for some of his relations who had visited for a funeral in the community.
Inspector Obeng said after they had finished eating, Ms Amamoo complained to Bosso’s relatives about the destruction of her clothes by her husband, which sparked a feud.
She said heated verbal exchanges ensued between the couple in the presence of others, and the woman sought to enter the room to pick her remaining belongings, but Mr Bosso resisted.
Pulling of machete
The station officer said Mawuli pulled out a sharp machete and swung it towards his wife but missed his target and rather hacked her daughter’s leg.
But the worst news awaited them at the Swedru Government Hospital where the severe damage inflicted on the girl’s leg was confirmed.
The child is currently on admission at the pediatric ward of the hospital.