Clara Ayan Ampah, a caregiver who reportedly caused the death of an 11-month-old infant girl at a preschool in Agbogba, Accra, will face manslaughter charges in the High Court next July. Following the Attorney-recommendation General’s that the accused be charged with manslaughter, the District Court in Adenta held committal procedures on Tuesday. Clara had already been charged with negligently causing harm when a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) showed her shoveling food down the toddler’s throat at the school where she worked.
When the infant was transferred to the North Legon Hospital in Accra, she was confirmed dead, and Clara was arrested after the baby’s parents reported their daughter’s murder to the police at Agbogba on May 18, 2021.
According to a police report, the victim’s father complained to the Agbogba police on May 18, 2021, that the school management notified him that his daughter was sick, taken to the North Legon Hospital, and proclaimed dead on arrival. A team of police investigators arrived at the hospital and examined the girl’s body before transporting it to the Police Hospital mortuary. The baby’s remains was subjected to an autopsy before being returned to the family for burial.
The school’s Proprietress gave the police CCTV footage from the day of the event, which revealed Clara’s treatment of the baby. Clara was seen in the video attempting to force food from a cup, believed to be oatmeal, into the victim’s mouth while holding the baby’s hands tightly behind her back. She was also observed pressing the baby’s head into the cup in an attempt to get the child to eat, as the infant wailed and pulled her leg, indicating that she was choking.
