Kidnapped pregnant woman: 'Women do so many things when they can't have children' - Minister

• Western Regional Minister says women are capable of doing the unthinkable when they can't bear children

• According to him, doctors at Axim have confirmed that the woman kidnapped in Takoradi was not pregnant

• He adds that the woman and her husband are being investigated

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, has stated that women who are under pressure to have children can "do so many things", including faking a pregnancy or stealing babies when they cannot have their children.

Mr. Darko-Mensah made this remark in an interview on Angel FM on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

The Minister in a shocking revelation has disclosed that reports from the Axim Hospital where the 28-year-old kidnapped woman, Josephine Panyin Mensah, is receiving treatment confirm that she was not pregnant as earlier speculated by her husband, Michael Simmons.

"I want to put it on record based on the information the security agency has provided to me that the woman was not pregnant. She was not pregnant according to the doctor who attended to her at Axim. Secondly, she wasn't beaten by anyone as earlier reported.

"If you are a woman who hasn't given birth in a community where you are being pressurized to have a baby, women do so many things, sometimes these things happen," said Mr Darko-Mensah.

The Minister added that the pregnant woman who was found in Axim was not physically assaulted.

According to the Minister, the woman in question is being investigated along with her husband for creating fear and panic in Takoradi and also creating the impression that Ghana is "disorganized".

Reacting to what could have lead the couple to fabricate such a story which attracted public interest, the Minister said, "They can go to that extent; haven't you heard cases where babies have been stolen just because these women can not give birth?"

He also described it as "funny" how the husband of the woman would lie about his wife's pregnancy.

"For her husband, even for a doctor to say she's not pregnant and the husband to consistently say she is, someone you stay in the same house with, she is your wife. Sometimes it is funny."

"There is no fear in the Western Region...If you take a look at the year-on-year security report, crime has reduced in the Western Region but per human institution, once in a while, we record criminal cases," the Western Regional Minister disclosed.