A 16-year-old pupil of the Kotobabi Junior High School (JHS), alarmed by her parents' decision to force her into marriage, has sought refuge at the offices of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in Accra. According to the girl (name with¬held), her decision to flee her home at Accra Newtown was to prevent the abrupt termination of her education and also to solicit the support of DOVVSU officials to impress upon her parents to stop pushing her into a relationship she was not interested in. Investigations conducted by The Mirror revealed that the form two pupil alleged that she once overheard her father discussing his intention to give her in marriage with one of her paternal uncles. He however said he wanted her to complete the JHS course before that ceremony took place. According to the source, the girl initially said she was not disturbed by what she heard. However, three weeks ago her elder sister confided in her that one of their uncles, Mohammed Ali, who resides at Kasoa had allegedly planned with their father to push her into marriage just after the Ramadan. According to the source, on Sep¬tember 12, 2009, her grandfather, who lives in their vicinity came to their house and admonished her to remain obedient and comply with all the instructions and orders that her father will give her without question¬ing the rationale behind such orders. The source said following this advice, the girl's fears were height¬ened so she sought the intervention of her school authorities, who immedi¬ately dispatched one of her teachers to consult her father, Alhaji Tahiru Abdul Rahman and convince him to shelve the idea. According to the source, the teacher went to the girls' house and had a discussion with her father but he said he could not wait for his daughter to complete the JHS. The source said the teacher then informed the school authorities about the father's stance and while they were planning the next line of action to save the girl, who was described as brilliant and a potential girls' prefect, they received information that the girl had on her own volition gone to the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWA) to make a formal report to the minister. The source said after listening to the concerns of the teenage girl, MOWA referred the case to DOVVSU. The source said DOVVSU imme¬diately summoned the parents of the girl who appeared before DOVVSU officials last Tuesday. Information The Mirror gathered revealed that the girl's father, a 75-¬year-old timber merchant, had denied knowledge of the allegations and explained that it was one of his fami-ly members who sometime ago had expressed interest in marrying his daughter. According to the source, Alhaji Tahiru asked his supposed relative to wait until the girl completed JHS, adding that the Muslim school will also have to certify whether the girl was ripe for marriage or not. The source said Alhaji Tahiru told DOVVSU officials that a few weeks ago the said relative called again and expressed the wish to have the mar¬riage ceremony scheduled immedi¬ately after the Ramadan, but he did not hear anything from the supposed suitor again until last week Friday, when he returned from hospital to realize that his daughter was not at home. When contacted, a DOVVSU official confirmed the story and added that they were still investigating the case. The official explained that they would only take a decision on the girl after they were convinced that the family member they were handing the girl to would ensure that her rights were not violat¬ed. When the Minister for MOWA, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, was contacted, she lauded the courage the girl had to report the conduct of her parents to the ministry and said, "it's a good sign that the advocacy programme the ministry is engaged in is yielding results." She said this was not the first time that this type of incident had hap¬pened and recommended that DOVVSU should pursue "this case with all the seriousness it deserves and let it serve as a deterrent to oth¬ers." Ms Dansua urged all girls in such a predicament to report the conduct of their parents to the nearest offices of DOVVSU for action to be taken. Source: The Mirror