A human rights lawyer has sued Bishop Daniel Obinim for flogging two teenage lovers in his church. Mr Francis Xavier Sosu filed the suit at the human rights division of the High court in Accra on Friday, 19 August.
Among other things, Mr Xavier Sosu is praying the court to restrain the controversial pastor and his assigns from inflicting any form of harm on his church members or on any Ghanaian under any circumstance.
The court has set 27 September to begin hearing the case. Mr Xavier Sosu filed the suit after a video of Bishop Obinim flogging the two teenagers for fornicating went viral on social media. Mr Xavier Sosu told Naa Dedei Tettey on 12Live on Class91.3FM on Friday that he will pray the court to play the said video as evidence.
Mr Xavier Sosu first threatened to file the suit in Thursday after he had described the flogging as an “unacceptable” act that should not be happening in 21st century Ghana. “It is completely unacceptable; this is complete madness for want of better words. This shouldn’t be happening in the 21st century, this shouldn’t be happening in a country that believes in the fundamental rights of citizens wherever they may be. … A person’s right to self-dignity is not curtailed merely because he/she becomes a member of your church,” he stated.
“Clearly, what happened in this video is dehumanising and it is degrading and the constitution is so clear in Article 15 that no person shall be subjected to any form of degrading treatment. Clearly, they violated the dignity of these people and Article 15 (1) says that the dignity of every Ghanaian shall be inviolable, in other words you will not violate it, and you will not do anything to detract from the dignity of a person. How can you bring two people before a congregation of thousands of people and start beating them up publicly in the name of them having fornicated…it is completely unacceptable,” Mr Xavier Sosu added.
The video has generated a barrage of criticism from some religious groups and human rights advocates.
Meanwhile, Bishop Obinim in an audio statement has explained that he flogged his 14-year-old adopted daughter and her 16-year-old boyfriend openly in church because they fornicated and tried aborting the girl’s pregnancy.
He said his accusers must first understand the reasons behind his disciplinary action against the two teen lovers before criticising him.
Source: Ghana/AccarFM
