Jihad Chaaban
The Abeka District Court in Accra yesterday sentenced Jihad Chaaban, the Lebanese supervisor of the Abelemkpe branch of Marwako Restaurant, to nine months’ imprisonment for dipping the face of Evelyn Boakye, a caterer of the eatery, into blended pepper.
The court, presided over by Victoria Guansah, also handed the convict a six-month jail term for the offence of assault without the option of a fine.
Both sentences are to run concurrently.
In the view of the court, the judgement was to serve as a deterrent to employers, who treat their employees without dignity.
Charges
Jihad, 26, was hauled before the court on March 8, this year for dipping the head of Evelyn into blended pepper on February 26, 2017.
According to the prosecution, the convict offensively conducted himself when he angrily called the complainant a ‘prostitute.’
Jihad was facing an additional charge of intentionally and unlawfully causing harm to Evelyn.
Although Jihaad had vehemently denied the charges, the court, after a six-month trail, found him culpable and accordingly jailed him.
Judgment
Sentencing the accused, Ms. Guansah stated that the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Hanson Armah, could not prove its charge of offensive conduct against him (accused).
She said the act of Jihad so complained about by Evelyn took place in the kitchen of the restaurant, which is not a public place.
The court held that for the prosecution to ground its case against the convict, the act ought to have occurred at a place where the public had access to.
Ms. Guansah noted that although customary law frowns on the action of Jihad, the prosecution “failed to establish the essential evidence to sustain the charge” of offensive conduct and accordingly acquitted and discharged him.
On the charge of assault, the magistrate argued that for the charge to hold, there must be a physical touch without the consent of the victim, adding that “there was a touch [in the instant case], which could not be said to be a friendly one.”
The court was convinced that Jihad held the neck of the complainant without her consent.
She noted that the manager, nonetheless, in his caution statement to the police, admitted the offence but denied same in court.
The trial magistrate, as a result stated, “The accused person’s guilt has been linked to the act of assault and battery,” insisting that the court was satisfied that Jihad assaulted Evelyn.
Touching on the charge of causing harm, Ms. Guansah said per the testimony of the doctor of the Achimota Government Hospital, who attended to Evelyn, the complainant’s eyes were “traumatized,” stressing that that could not be normal and was as a result of the action by Jihad.
The magistrate held that once an act is committed, it’s inconsequential if the harm was intended or not.
She stated that Jihad intended the consequence of his action, noting that the convict caused the harm of Evelyn.
Ms. Guansah was of the view that the prosecution had been able to prove the guilt of Jihad on the charges of causing harm and assault.
Mitigation
Julio De Meideros, lawyer for the convict, while describing the judgment of the court as “elaborate,” stated that it was important the magistrate avert her mind to the fact that the parties had reconciled and had solved the matter out- of -court.
He said the terms of settlement filed by the parties demonstrate the reconciliation of the parties.
Jihad’s lawyer stated, “We never intended our conduct and wanted to have peace with the complainant. Consider the age of the accused; he is a young person who has just started life with this experience.”
Julio added, “Once you are employed, you are over-exuberant to show your superiors that you are up to the task…this is the situation the accused has found himself.”
He said his client did not directly benefit from the crime, explaining that it would have been different if Jihad had gone on a frolic of his own, committed the offence and benefitted unjustifiably.
“From all the facts, one thing is clear that all that happened in the course of his duty, the accused did not set out to commit the offence and benefit from it,” he claimed.
Sentence
The magistrate stated that the company should have its own regulations for correcting its employees other than the way the convict used.
She argued that Jihad had not shown any remorse and that at a point in the trial, he even sounded contemptuous of the court.
She said Evelyn went to Mawarko to work and not to be treated like a slave, indicating that the victim was a staff at the Rice Department of the eatery but came to the Vegetable Department to help, a gesture Jihad ought to have appreciated.
Ms. Guansah wondered how Jihad, who claims he could not speak English, could be appointed to head the workers whose means of communication is English.
Appeal
Meanwhile, Julio has served notice to appeal against the decision of the court, but Ms. Guansah was emphatic that her judgement would stand the test of time.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
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