Reports reaching MyNewsGh.com indicates the Ghana Police Service has conducted a virginity test on 16-year-old Ga Queen Naa Okromo Yomo Ayemuade without parental consent.
The test which was conducted at the Police Hospital in Accra sources say confirmed the Queen was confirmed a virgin but police are yet to make public the result.
Family sources say the police conducted the virginity test on the young Ga Queen without parental consent.
The test was conducted after the girl was taken into protective custody by the police on April 2 after public outcry over her alleged marriage to a 63-year-old.
The police said the girl and her mother are currently under Police protection.
“The Ghana Police Service is working with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection and the Department of Social Welfare to provide her with the necessary support while the matter is being investigated,” a statement issued by the Police said.
The Nungua Traditional Authority had explained the rationale for the “marriage” which raised concerns among the public.
The Office of the Overlord of Ga Dangme clarified that the marriage is strictly for traditional purposes as she will not be performing any conjugal rite.
Nungua Mankralo Tetteh Nii Gbotery Kofi Frankwa explained that the minor would only be assisting the Overlord with his duties at the temple as a virgin.
Speaking in an interview with TV3 on Monday, April 1, he said “This is the second wife she is almost 90 years old, can one say that the Gborbu Wulomo is having what concerns are being raised with her? Obviously, no. But is a customary duty It is a customary duty for Naa Yomo to perform and that customary duty calls for a virgin.”
“Her childhood has never been denied, there are many chiefs and queens that were installed chiefs and queens when they were even in their mother’s belly, their rights were never taken away, indeed it enhanced and gave them certain privileges that ordinary children will not even have.”
By the customs of their community, Naa Okromo now assumes the traditional name Naa Ayemoede.
But this union is not complete without further rites. Naa Ayemoede is to undergo a second customary ceremony, one centered on purification.
This rite will empower her to fulfill all the duties expected of her as the wife of the Gborbu Wulomo, including the crucial role of procreation.
Meanwhile, the Gborbu Wulomo temple has been saying that the 12-year-old girl has been designated to attend to one of the 99 deities of the Ga-Adangbe group, which necessitates her being a virgin.
The ceremony, which according to the spokesperson for the temple, Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, began six years ago, was made public to ensure the young girl’s purity is maintained in order to protect her from sexual violation by men.
He has been explaining at a press conference that the role the young girl is expected to perform within the shrine is traditionally reserved for virgins.
He indicates that those criticising the practice and calling for the prosecution of the Wulomo lack insight on the Ga-Dangme tradition, something they should have consulted before laying bare their criticisms.
Mynewsgh.com
