Happy FM’s Oti regional correspondent, Evans Manasseh, has narrated how due to certain “traditions”, the police have been barred from involving themselves in an incident involving the thunder strike of a 23-year-old woman in the Nkwanta North district.
According to Manasseh, the body of the deceased was left unattended from about 5am when the thunderstruck till about 9pm in the evening.
Explaining why the police had refused to take away the body after the incident, Manasseh told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show: “The police did not want to get involved because they view the occurrence as a natural disaster. When the event happened, the police did not even want to touch the body because they said it was caused by thunder so if certain rites aren’t performed, there is no way they can touch the body. The belief is that with anyone who touches the body, there is a high possibility that the next rain with thunder will strike you or a member of your family. So tradition has it that the police are not allowed to touch the body. The police have no control over the situation, and currently, there are no investigations ongoing.
Manasseh added that the deceased was only moved when a traditionalist performed the necessary rites. “The family has come for the body. She was never put in the mortuary nor was she placed in a coffin. There will be some rites after which she will be covered in leaves to be buried”, he added.
A 23-year-old identified as Naomi was killed by a thunder strike in the Nkwanta North District of the Oti region, after some rains.
Sources have it that she relocated from the Northern region to the Oti region after her husband had promised to help her learn a trade in the Oti Region.
Naomi was said to have been carrying a metallic bowl when the incident occurred. While some sections of the town believe that the metallic object she held attracted the thunder strike, some also believe she was struck by the thunder as a result of a curse placed on her by some unknown persons.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah