40-year-old teacher who was jailed 15-years for a crime he never committed said his future is shuttered.
Prior to his predicament, Eric Asante said he had so many dreams and aspirations but all disappear into thin air when he was handed the 15-year-old jail sentence for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old school pupil.
The teacher was sentenced in 2005 by the Tamale High Court for defiling one Rubamatu Mohammed, then a 14-year-old pupil at the school Asante taught.
After several appeals to the High Court, he then proceeded to the Supreme Court in 2012 and the court ordered for the paternity test to be carried out after serving 12 years in jail.
However, a five-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Anin Yeboah acquitted and discharged the former teacher on Thursday January 26 after DNA proved that the teacher was not the father of the baby that resulted after the alleged sexual act.
The Court also asked Eric to apply for compensation from the state. The victim through his lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu is demanding GH¢10 million from the state.
But in an interview on Adom Evening news Friday, Eric Asante said no amount of money will compensate for his ordeal in prison.
He indicated that, though he has gained his freedom, he is virtually in some sort of prison given society’s perception about ex-convicts.
Eric Asante is however hopeful with the help of God, there will still be light at the end of the tunnel.
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