Police in Wa arrest serial paedophile for sexually abusing more than 30 girls

Rashid Anaata, a well-known beautician and wedding decorator located in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region, has been apprehended and is presently under prosecution for committing acts of defilement against over thirty girls within the municipality.

These girls, primarily falling within the age range of 10 to 13 years, have shared strikingly similar accounts of how the individual enticed them into his premises and forcibly engaged in inappropriate activities with them.

In the recent months of this year, three of the affected girls courageously exposed the alleged perpetrator through a viral video shared on social media. This caused him to go into hiding, eluding the authorities during several attempts to locate him. However, his luck ran out when the police, acting on received intelligence, successfully apprehended him within his concealed location in the Upper West Region last week.

Subsequently, he has been presented before the court and formally charged with defiling twelve children. These minors have undergone medical examinations and have voluntarily stepped forward to provide testimonies against him. Meanwhile, the remaining thirty girls have not yet joined the prosecution, as indicated by the State Attorney overseeing the case.

It is worth noting that Rashid Anaata had previously come to the attention of the police in 2016 due to accusations of defiling a schoolgirl. Regrettably, the case was eventually dropped following pressure applied to the victim’s mother.

However, in May of 2023, Mr. Eliasu Baba Yussif, the Chief Executive Officer of Bahass Foundation, reported him to the police again for the defilement of three girls. Despite the prompt response of the authorities, Rashid Anaaba had managed to abscond by that time.