Sex Predator Trial: “You don’t need medical report to prove rape”– Prosecutor

Ohene Nkunim, charged with rape, has been in police custody since September 22, 2021.

The police prosecutor, Chief Inspector Richard Amoah, rose up to sell a popular line of the police to the judge, Oheneba Kuffuor.

The police investigations were almost completed, he said, after which a docket would be sent to the Attorney-General for advice.

In view of this, the prosecutor asked for an adjournment while the accused remained in police custody.

Ohene Nkunim’s lawyer, Paul Abariga, stood up to deliver an oral C.V of his credentials as a former state prosecutor who knew the inner workings of the Attorney-General’s Department.

It could take a long time for the Attorney-General Department to study the evidence and advice on the prosecution. The A-G was even yet to receive the docket.

Acknowledging the near genetic delays in Ghana’s justice system, the lawyer cut his losses. He indicated that he would file an application at the High Court to secure bail for his client.

If he could not hasten the wheels of justice in this trial, he could at least hasten the wheels of freedom for his client, even if temporarily.

The District Court does not have the power to grant bail so the lawyer said he would head for the High Court, he indicated.

Lawyer Abariga reminded the court that Chief Inspector Richard Amoah had promised at the previous sitting to produce a medical report indicating rape.

“He was tasked to produce the medical report. If it was not a ploy to buy time then, surely, a report would be produced,” he said.

“He should be honest enough to say there is no medical report,” Abariga said.

The court should “take judicial notice of this falsehood,” the defence lawyer said.

The police prosecutor, Richard Amoah, shot up, shot back, and backtracked.

Backtracking, he said he never promised to bring the medical report to the court at the last hearing. He only promised to bring it to court “when it is due”, he said. He challenged the court to refer to records of the previous sitting.

Shooting back, Richard Amoah argued further that the actual case won’t be heard in this district court and so there was no need to bring evidence before a judge who would not sit on the case.

“This court is not a trial court,” Mr. Amoah said.

“We will not give our arsenals to him at this stage. We are keeping our arsenals to ourselves,” the prosecutor indicated.

In his third argument, he amended his previous stance on the first day of sitting when he said the medical report was key to proving rape.

The police prosecutor said a medical report was not exactly key. In fact, it was no longer even key.

“A medical report is not substantive evidence but a supplementary one,” he said. “There may be other evidence to prove rape,” he hinted at a possible change in prosecution strategy.

There was no challenge from Paul Abariga, the defence lawyer. He moved away from mounting an immediate challenge to the point.

Right now, he appeared more interested in securing bail for his client than making a counter-argument at this preliminary stage of the case.

The judge, Oheneba Kuffuor, supervised the negotiation of a new date for the next hearing and settled on October 25, 2021, at 10 a.m.

It satisfied the judge. It satisfied the defence lawyer. It satisfied the police prosecutor. But it did not appear to satisfy Jonathan Ohene Nkunim, who would still have to go back to police custody.

He walked over to a police officer, stretched his hands to him. The officer slapped the handcuffs.

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The self-styled physiotherapist and neuromuscular expert, Jonathan Ohene Nkunim, has been accused by at least three women of sexual assault inside his facility at Gbawe in Accra.

His victims were his patients. While proferring solution to their desperate health situations, he had sex with them, explaining it was important for the medical treatment.

His arrest and charge followed an investigative work by The Fourth Estate‘s Manasseh Azure Awuni titled “The Licensed Sex Predator.”