A 34-year-old woman, Helena Oduro, also known as Yaa Ohenewa, has been remanded in police custody for kidnapping a 5-year-old girl at New Edubease in the Adanse South District of the Ashanti Region.
The KG1 pupil of Future Assurance Academy at New Edubease reportedly did not return from school on March 2, 2025.
Parents of the missing child reported the matter to the police and announced it on multiple media platforms.
The 5-year-old girl was eventually rescued on May 12, 2025, by the Tuobodom Police following a tip-off from neighbours of the suspect in Tuobodom.
According to the whistleblowers, they realised that Helena Oduro was maltreating the child whom she had returned from New Edubease with.
They reported the matter to the nearby police.
Investigations by the police then led them finding out that it was the missing girl from widespread news report on March 2, 2025.
The police, together with the father of the girl, Opanin Kofi Essah, followed up to find her with the suspect at Tuobodom in the Bono Region.
According to a video report by UTV on X, on May 14, 2025, the suspect had attempted to alter the looks of the girl by undoing her braids and shaving her hair.
She also bleached the child to appear fairer than her regular complexion.
The father of the missing but found girl disclosed to the police that the suspected kidnapper, who had come to New Edubease to trade, was their neighbour.
According to him, Helena Oduro has been struggling to conceive and in her desperation for a child, attempted to kidnap their little girl.
He added that the suspect pretended to empathise with them when they were searching for their child only to find out months later that she is the culprit.
Helena Oduro has been remanded and is set to appear before the Obuasi Circuit Court on May 21, 2025.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
