By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Detective Inspector Unisa Tarawally has testified against a building construction contractor Lahai Kamara, 30, for the killing of 4-year-old Ammah Mensah.
The police officer was led in evidence by State Counsel, Joseph A.K. Sesay at the High Court in Freetown.
In his evidence in chief, the Inspector said he was working at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Adonkia, Goderich Division in Western Rural District on the 27th June 201,7 when they received a report about a missing child.
He said they had started investigations, when the Local Unit Commander (LUC) at the time, Chief Superintendent Ambrose Sovula got information that the remains of the missing child have been discovered at Upper Gbendembu, Goderich.
He said he was among a team of police officers that went to the scene where they met the father of the deceased child. He added that the deceased girl was lying on 2 dry sticks that they treated as exhibits to aid their investigation.
He also added that two empty cements sacs were used to cover the face of the dead child and that the Scene of Crime (SOC) officer took photographs of the scene. He noted that the body of the child had started decaying when they discovered it.
The police officer said together with the father of the girl, they went to the Connaught Hospital where a post-mortem examination was conducted in order to ascertain the cause of death. He said that after the examination, a cause of death certificate was issued to him by Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma and that it has been in his custody ever since.
The detective said that it was on the 4th July 2017, based on their investigation, that they arrested the accused and obtained a statement from him at the police station.
He said that during the cause of their investigations, they went to the house of the accused where they found oil under a shoe rack suspected to be from a decomposed body, and human hair glued to the floor. He said that this raised their suspicion since the child’s corpse had no hair on the back of the lower scalp.
From the said statement, the accused denied the allegations when put to him by the police. The building contractor denied knowing the deceased child and further added that he has never set his eyes on her.
The accused told the police when they found sticks in his compound that were similar to those found at the crime scene, he told them they belonged to a certain David Kamara who was a security guard.
He told the police that the suspected decomposed oil found at his apartment was a stain from palm oil which he normally uses for cooking.
The accused was initially granted bail but it was rescinded by the judge on the 20th October 2021.
Justice Monfred Sesay sent the accused on remand as he adjourned the matter to Wednesday 17th November this year.
Kamara was arraigned in court because the prosecution believes that he murdered Ammah Mensah on the 28th June 2017 in Freetown, Western Area.
Copyright © Politico Online 15/11/21
