'Anti-sodomy police' formed in Ghana prison as gay suspects suffer beatings

A prison official at the Kumasi Central Prison in the Ashanti Region of Ghana has revealed that homosexual suspects in the prison suffer serious physical abuses if caught in the act.

Superintendent Cephas Nuwordu, the officer in-charge of the prison infirmary told the media that some inmates try to have anal sex and they are beaten by other inmates until they are rescued by prison officers, local media report.

“There are some instances whereby some of the inmates try in vain to have anal sex in the prisons. In all those instances, the suspects are spotted on time by their angry colleagues who unleash mayhem on them,” he was quoted by local newspaper Daily Guide on Monday.

“They usually beat the suspects to the pulp and they are usually saved by the officers. Some of the beatings are very serious,” he said.

The officer added that the prison has created a team of inmates as part of strategies to stop homosexual acts by raising alarm and ensuring law and order.

“We have formed the Cell Police, whose main duties are to ensure that acts such as sodomy and other illegal acts do not happen in the facility,” he said.

Superintendent Nuwordu said the prison does not entertain sodomy as homosexuality is illegal in the country.

Section 104 of Ghana’s Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003 says whoever has unnatural carnal knowledge with consent is guilty of misdemeanor; while without consent is guilty of a first degree felony.