Mum,33,Poisons five kids

Published in the Daily Graphic on 06/01/2010 , pg20

Story: Henrietta Brocke & Matilda Attram

THE tragic story of five children, suspected to have been killed through poisoning by their own mother, yesterday sent hundreds of residents of Nyanyano in the Central Region guessing what could have triggered such cruelty.
The bodies of the five children, Kwaku Osae Asante, 11, Yaw Ofori Asante 9, Angel Asante, 6, Kofi Asante, 4 and Esi, 1, the only child she had with a different man, are now at the Police Hospital morgue in Accra.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at his Sowutuom residence, the father of the children, Mr Christian Asante, disclosed that 33-year-old Georgina Pipsi, who is the mother of the children, visited them (children) at his residence in Sowutuom last Sunday morning to spend some time with them.
He said Georgina stayed with the children till about 5pm when he received some visitors and realised that they (mother and children) were nowhere to be found.
He then traced one Tawiah Pipsi, a sister of Georgina, to enquire about his children but was told she did know their whereabouts.
"They were not back by 7p.m. so I had to call other relatives to find out whether they had visited," he said.
According to him, all efforts to get in touch with the children, who were supposed to resume school yesterday, proved futile.
Mr Asante said four of the children were his children with Georgina and that Esi was not his biological daughter and he knew nothing about her background.
He told the Daily Graphic that Georgina developed a mental problem about three years ago before their break-up, adding that "it was for this reason I decided to take care of the children but allowed her to visit them anytime she chose to".
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Gomoa Nyanyano Police Station, the Assistant Station Officer, Inspector Samuel Anobi, confirmed the report.
He said the bodies were transported to the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy to facilitate investigations into the case. He said the police were also looking for the suspect.