Takoradi: ‘Fake’ pregnant woman’s judgement deferred

• Posted on November 16, 2022November 16, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Takoradi Circuit Court ‘A’ has postponed the delivery of its final ruling in the case of the supposed kidnapped pregnant woman in Takoradi.

The woman at the center of the case, Josephine Panyin Mensah claimed she was kidnapped while pregnant and her fresh baby taken away.

It would be recalled that at the last sitting, the court set Tuesday, November 15, 2022, to deliver the judgement.

The court, therefore, asked the accused person to go for a pregnancy test and submit the result to the court.

However, the court presided over by Michael Ampadu had to defer its final ruling in the case to Thursday, November 17, 2022, because the judgement was not ready.

The courtroom was filed to capacity as most residents of Takoradi thronged there to listen to the court’s final verdict in the case.

They were, however, disappointed when the judge who was in the chambers asked one of the clerks to inform the accused person that the final judgement in her case will be ready on Thursday.

When she first appeared in court, Josephine Panyin Mensah pleaded not guilty to the charges of deceiving a public officer and publication of false news with intent to cause fear and panic.

This was despite the claims by the police that she had confessed to faking the kidnapping and the pregnancy.

It would be recalled that Josephine Panyin Mensah in September last year was allegedly kidnapped while having her normal early morning jogging in Takoradi.

She was later found in Axim but was unkempt and without any sign of the said pregnancy.

She later claimed that she delivered on the same day she was allegedly kidnapped with the baby taken by her supposed kidnappers.

The controversial story dominated media discussions particularly when the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah claimed that the said pregnancy was fake.

The police administration in a subsequent statement confirmed the minister’s claim.

Further tests conducted on her at different health facilities also confirmed that she was never pregnant.

Meanwhile, the husband of the accused, Michael Simons who was one of the eight witnesses that testified in the case told the court that he physically saw his wife pregnant, in his evidence-in-chief.

When she also took her turn to testify in the case during cross-examination, Josephine insisted that she was pregnant before she was kidnapped and that she got pregnant in January 2021.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi