Obinim's flogging video to be investigated by police

Ghana Police Service has said it will investigate a video which shows Bishop Obinim, flogging two teenagers with a belt for alleged fornication during a church service which was aired on television.

According to reports, the two, who are under the care of the founder of the International God’s Way Church, had engaged in sexual intercourse, resulting in a pregnancy which was subsequently aborted. This angered Obinim, thus, he took the law into his hands and lashed the young man on his bare back before turning to the girl flogging her mercilessly with a belt in the full glare of his congregation.

Reacting to the video which went viral on social media, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Ghana Police Service Superintendent Cephas Arthur, stated that although he hadn’t seen the video, the police had taken notice of the complaints from members of the public.

In an interview with Citi News, Cephas Arthur said such an action, if proven, would constitute an abuse of the teenagers’ rights and that its Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) would take the matter up.

“I haven’t spotted such a video but if there is such a video in circulation then it borders on human rights issues and the appropriate authorities will take action,” Cephas Arthur said.

“We are in a democratic dispensation. If it’s for the purposes of religion, that one will also be investigated. It will also be by the appropriate authorities and I hope the right things will be done to ensure that human dignity is restored. When I say appropriate institutions, we have DOVVSU, anti-human trafficking unit and we have other units so let us see it first. For all you know, some station or division of the police has seen it already and perhaps they are working on it.”

Watch the full video below.