Takoradi woman confesses faking pregnancy, kidnapping

The “missing pregnant woman”, 28-year-old Josephine Panyin Mensah, according to sources close to ongoing investigations, has confessed to faking the pregnancy and kidnapping.

The mobile telephone number used to call family members to demand a ransom was actually registered in her name, and police sources say she did not anticipate that the end result would be this massive.

sources close to the Psychologists assigned to her indicate that Josephine finally opened up remorsefully and confessed that she faked both the kidnapping and the pregnancy after she was confronted with the reality and the implications of her actions.

Second opinion
After the second medical examination at the regional hospital by a team of specialist obstetrics gynaecologists (OBGs), which disproved her claim, she was discharged from the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital and handed over to the police.

She is currently pleading with the police not to prosecute her and that she did not know the husband would go and report her fake kidnapping to the police after she managed to conceal her fake pregnancy.

After her confession, Josephine asked for her husband’s forgiveness amid sobs. She has since been placed in the custody of the Takoradi Divisional Police Command.

Police confirmation
According to a Police Statement issued today, the suspect, Josephine Panyin Mensah, 28, confessed during investigations that she was never pregnant or kidnapped.

Mother and husband granted bail
The mother and the husband who were initially arrested for conspiracy, have been granted bail.

According to the sources, during investigations, it became clear that Josephine’s mother and the husband were not aware their daughter and wife was faking the pregnancy.

The husband told the team of psychologists that he had never seen the wife’s protruding stomach before and that she had even warned him that doctors had counselled against intimacy.

Josephine’s mother reportedly told the police that she, in all honesty, had also not seen the daughter’s pregnant stomach before and that she goes to the bathroom with her clothes on.

The ransom number
Police investigations also established that the SIM-card number that was used to call the mother to demand the ransom after the fake kidnap was reported to the police, was registered earlier this month in the name of Josephine Panyin Mensah.

The police are said to have traced the number to a location at Agona-Nkwanta, an adjoining Municipality, which sent the team of detectives to comb the entire area but Josephine had by then moved out and that it was not long before she reappeared in Axim in the Nzema East Municipality.

Another source close to the medical team said after getting her to confess, their job was done and that the psychologists would continue to try and establish the motive(s) behind her action.

The long trail
A week ago on Thursday, September 16, 2021, Josephine Panyin Mensah was reported missing. She was said to be nine months pregnant.

The case was reported to the police, which commenced investigations with the hope of finding her alive and safe. On Tuesday, September 21, 2021, Josephine was found in Axim without the pregnancy or any baby.

What rather emerged was that she delivered but her captors stole the baby.

Following police investigations, it emerged that she was never pregnant, a claim she and the immediate family vehemently disputed. The accusation she faked the pregnancy even got members of her community angry.

Regional Referral Hospital
A secondary opinion from the Regional Referral Hospital – Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi also confirmed that she was never pregnant and was never provided ante-natal care at the European Hospital in the last nine months, much against her insistence.

Her hospital records, according to the police, indicate that the last time she was at a hospital was in October 2020, and on that occasion, her visit had nothing to do with pregnancy.

Currently, Josephine’s initial status as a victim has changed to one of a suspect. Her husband, Michael Simmons and her mother have also been booked as suspects.

Source: Graphic online