A video that emerged last week of some individuals mounting a horrendous attack on a young boy shows that many among us are heathens and uncivilized.
The young person was hung up naked on a rope with his hands tied above jhim and subjected to whipping and other maltreatment, whilst people stood nearby and laughed.
In this wise, Alhaji Alhassan Ibn Ibrahim, a Member of the Ashanti Regional Child Protection Committee, has condemned the recent torture of the 12-year-old boy that has gone viral.
The incident has sparked public outrage after the video of the abuse surfaced on social media.
Alhaji Ibrahim said: “The act is barbaric, dehumanising and a stain on the conscience of society.”
He called for swift and stringent punitive measures against the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others who violate the rights and dignity of children.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a regional learning and sharing workshop in Kumasi, for girls and young women, organised by Defence for Children International (DCI) Alhaji Ibrahims urged law enforcement agencies to expedite investigations and ensure that justice was served without fear or favour.
“The torture of this young boy is not only a gross violation of his fundamental human rights but also an indictment of our collective failure to protect the vulnerable,” he said, adding, “such people must be incarcerated and kept away from any civilised society.”
The Daily Searchlight agrees wholly with the sentiments expressed by Alhaji Alhassan Ibn Ibrahim. We believe that as a community, Ghana is too tolerant of such abherent behavior, and this needs to change.
We believe that beyond the Children’s Act and other progressive laws, Ghana needs to develop ‘Child-Friendly’ Policies that protect children and enable institutions like the Department of Social Welfare and the Ghana Police Service to adopt more coercive positions towards those who abuse the rights of children.
We support the call to throw the book at the individuals who abused the rights of the child in this instance, and if at all possible, to ensure that the child is not returned to this abusive household.
(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 30th June, 2025).
