Police arrest man in viral video whipping his toddler 21 times
man in viral video whipping his toddler 21 times

The police have arrested a man seen in a viral video brutally assaulting his barely three-year-old son.

The suspect, Richard Kofi, was picked up at about 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Akaa Buem in Jasikan in the Oti Region.

In the video, the man, believed to be his father, whacks the boy off his feet with what appears like the branch of a scrub and continues a ghastly assault while the boy crawls.

Undeterred by the boy’s pitchy cries, the suspect lifts the boy up and continues the beating. He whips the boy at least 21 times in the 1:18 minute video.

At Akaa Buem on Wednesday, the community was stirred up after the police went in to pick up the suspect. He was taken to the chief’s palace, where his alleged crime was explained and whisked away in a Toyota van.

The police also picked up the suspect’s wife, who lives in a house separate from the husband. The child was also rescued from the house and placed in the care of the police.

The arrest comes barely 24 hours after the police issued a statement Tuesday, slapping a 2,000 cedi bounty on the man.

While being transported out of the community, the suspect insisted he had done nothing wrong. He was heard swearing and threatening to harm those who reported him to the police.

The Ghana Police Service had appealed to the public to help arrest the man.

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