I believe this incident deserves urgent attention from the Ghana Police Service, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and all relevant child protection institutions.
On Thursday, October 29, 2026, my 16-year-old son visited a female classmate, also 16, at her residence following her invitation.
The visit was an innocent gesture of friendship. The young girl had an upcoming birthday celebration, and my son had told me about it, asking for financial support to enable him to purchase a birthday present for her. He had saved GH¢80 of his own money, and I willingly gave him an additional GH¢100 to help him buy something special for his friend.
On Thursday 29th October, 2026, the birthday girl placed a phone call to my son inviting him over to know his home. Unfortunately for him, the girl’s parents were not home at the time of his visit. However, his intention was only to visit her friend and also seize the opportunity to present to her a birthday present. They reportedly spent some time together watching cartoons. After approximately about two hours, my son decided to leave because he had other errands to attend to.
However, just as he was preparing to leave, the girl’s mother, one Grace Obeng arrived and confronted him, demanding to know what he was doing in the house. My son explained that he had come to visit his classmate.
What followed, according to my son’s account, is deeply disturbing.
Before he could properly explain himself, the woman allegedly descended on him, slapping him repeatedly, reportedly, and pushing him to the floor. She subsequently locked the door and continued assaulting him.
The situation took an even more disturbing turn when she called her husband, one Alex Appiah Yego, who reportedly works as a clearing agent at the Tema Harbour, informing him that their daughter had brought a boy into their home.
My son and the girl were allegedly locked in a room by the woman for close to two hours while they waited for the girl’s father to return from work.
When the father eventually arrived, rather than establish what had happened or seek an explanation from the two teenagers, he allegedly subjected my son to further brutal physical assault.
According to my son’s account, the man punched him repeatedly, whipped him with a belt and beat him with a stick. Even more frighteningly, he allegedly threatened to kill my son and instructed his wife to bring him a knife, threatening to cut him up. Thankfully, the woman reportedly did not bring the knife.
After the assault which lasted about two to three hours, my son was eventually pushed out of the room and ordered to leave. Even that, as he run out of the compound, they pelted stone at him. His mobile phone was also reportedly seized.
Today, my 16-year-old son is traumatised, with visible bruises and injuries across his body.
The question I keep asking myself is: What exactly did this 16-year-old boy do to deserve such brutality?
Was visiting a female classmate, upon her invitation, a crime punishable by such violence by adult parents? Even if the parents were uncomfortable with their daughter’s friend visiting their home, did that give them the right to assault, humiliate, threaten and physically abuse a minor?
Absolutely not!
Parents have every right to establish rules and boundaries for their children. They also have the right to question visitors in their homes. But those rights do not include assaulting another person’s child or threatening to take his life.
A 16-year-old boy is a child who deserves protection, dignity and respect. Disagreement, suspicion or parental displeasure can never justify this level of violence.
This incident raises serious concerns about child protection, assault, unlawful detention and threats to life.
My appeal
I am therefore calling on:
1. The Ghana Police Service to urgently investigate this incident, identify the perpetrators and ensure that the appropriate legal action is taken.
2. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to take an interest in this matter and ensure that my son’s rights and welfare are protected.
3. The Department of Social Welfare and relevant child protection agencies to provide the necessary support, including psychological assistance, to help my son recover from this traumatic experience.
4. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and other relevant institutions to take an interest in the broader child protection concerns raised by this incident.
I am sharing this account publicly because I believe that violence against children must never be normalised or swept under the carpet.
Today, it is my son. Tomorrow, it could be someone else’s child.
No child should have to endure such brutality simply because he or she visited a friend.
I am a father seeking justice, not revenge. I want accountability, a thorough investigation and the protection of my child.
Ghana must not become a society where adults feel entitled to inflict violence on other people’s children without consequences.
Justice for my 16-year-old son. Let the relevant institutions act.
#JusticeForMySon #ChildProtection #EndViolenceAgainstChildren #GhanaPoliceService #Ghana
