A 38-year-old painter, Joseph Tetteh, has been jailed for 27 months for biting an encroacher.
The painter who worked as a caretaker on a one-acre land in Ashiaman โ Kantamanso, a suburb of Ashiaman in the Greater Accra Region was charged with causing harm.
Tetteh lived in a single room on an acre of land ostensibly to ward-off encroachers
โI was home one day when four men on two motorbikes came with another gentleman in a car. They began surveying the land in an attempt to sell portions of it to a potential buyerโ he narrated
Tetteh, confused about the situation approached the group and enquired why they were on the land and attempting to sell it
โThey ignored me, so I picked out my phone to call the land owner who is based in the United State; they seized my phone and started hitting me,’ he said.
Tetteh fought back but he alone could not overpower four heavily built men, they butchered him and he struggled for his dear life.
โIn an attempt to defend myself a finger landed in my mouth and I bit the handโ he narrated
With his body drenched in blood, Tetteh was later arrested by the Ashiaman police
โI asked the police to call my family but they said my phone was not given to them and I also did have neither my mum nor wifeโs number off-mindโ
Tetteh was later arraigned before an Ashiaman Circuit Court and was fined GHC2700 in default he was to serve 27 months for causing harm.
โI did not have the money nor could I call any family member for help, so eventually, I was sent to the Ankaful prisonโ
Even though Tetteh has served a little over a year now, his family still does not know he is in jail
โThey probably think I am died by now,โ he said sobbing.
Tetteh said he is been severely punished for defending his life and home.
โThe only wrong thing I did was to defend myself in my home, whiles the people who attacked me are walking freely, I have nothing to say to them but to ask for Godโs blessings upon their life,โ he said
Through Crime Check Foundationโs Petty Offenders Project, Tettehโs GHC 2,700 fine has been paid.
He is a free man now.
