TEACHER JAILED 7 YEARS FOR RAPE (BACK PAGE, AUGUST 3, 2010)

A 31-YEAR-OLD Social Studies teacher of the Kanton Senior High School in Tumu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with hard labour for raping a final-year female student of the school.
Richard Banousin pleaded not guilty to the offence but the Wa High Court, presided over by Mr Justice George Koomson, found him guilty of raping the student in his room.
A Principal State Attorney, Mr Robert Beke, who briefed the Daily Graphic, said some time last year, the convict invited the female student to his residence to collect an item which had been seized from her during an inspection exercise in the school.
Unknown to the victim, the convict had other ideas and so when she got to his house, he invited her to his room.
He said the convict then started making advances at the student but she resisted and indicated her resolve to leave the room if he would not stop.
He said the convict quickly rushed to lock the door when the student decided to leave the room, after which he forcibly had sex with her.
Mr Beke said the student, after gaining her freedom, quickly rushed to inform her parents at home and they, in turn, reported the conduct of the teacher to the school authorities and the police.
He said the convict was subsequently arrested in July last year and the case brought before the Wa Office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) for further investigations.
He said the police, after investigations, charged the tutor with the offence of rape, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Mr Justice Koomson, before convicting the suspect, asked him if he had anything to say.
He said the convict pleaded that the court should deal leniently with him since he was married and was the breadwinner of his family.
Mr Beke said the judge, in his response, said he took all of that into consideration but was also of the view that teachers inculcated good morals in children and so for him to have turned round to abuse the girl was very unfortunate.
Justice Koomson further told the court that the law would deal with such people appropriately.