A female medical student last Thursday in Accra readily handed over her laptop, smart phones and all available cash when confronted with a knife-wielding assailant but baulked at the demand for sex.
To avoid any such ordeal, she jumped about 20 feet, from the first floor of the three-storey hostel, to escape.
The Ghana Medical School student (name withheld), ended up with serious hip and waist injuries and is currently on admission at the Intensive Care Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
The suspect, Emmanuel Ayeh, 22, a welder of Mamprobi, an Accra suburb, was arrested by the male colleagues of the victim when she shouted for help and is currently in custody at the Korle Bu Police Station.
An eyewitness and mate of the victim, who only identified himself as Edwin, told newsmen that the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. January 30 at the Block R Hostel.
“I was standing downstairs with another mate when he heard shouting and later a thud as their mate jumped from the first floor of the building to the ground.
“Instinctively we both ran to her aid, and she managed to tell us that there was a guy in her room who had a knife and had attempted to rape her”, he said.
Edwin, who is well-built, said he then asked his other mate to see to the victim as he shouted to other mates for more support.
They then went to the victim’s room where they found the assailant holding a knife, standing with his penis erect.
“We arrested him and took him to the police station,” he recounted.
According to Edwin, the victim, while being sent to hospital, said that she had just returned from the bathroom and entered her room when the assailant entered holding a knife which he pointed at her and asked her to surrender all her valuables and any money she had.
“I obliged and handed over my laptop, phones and all the money I had on me, after which he commanded me to undress and lie down.
“At that point I got up, and pretending to open the zipper of my trousers, I rushed out while shouting and jumped. I bounced off the wedge on the first floor before landing on the ground”, she recalled.
The Korle Bu District Police Commander, Superintendent Peter Yembila, confirmed the story, adding that the suspect was currently in custody pending investigations and arraignment.
Meanwhile, some students residing in the hostels have expressed concern about the inadequate security at the hostels.
They claimed crimes took place very often at the hostels, but that was the first time they had experienced a violent one.
Even though there were some security personnel at the various hostels, they said, it was quite difficult for them to differentiate students from non-students; a situation that made it easier for intruders to access the hostels.