Some residents of Takoradi, particularly neighbours to the woman at the centre of the alleged fake pregnancy and kidnapping saga, have expressed shock over her alleged confession.
According to them, they would only believe the story if they publicly hear her admission.
Some of the residents who gathered at the Takoradi Central Police Station on Friday where Josephine had been kept in cells maintain that, how the story has so far unfolded, raises questions about the believability of the fake pregnancy claims.
They therefore want to hear from the horse’s own mouth to believe that everything is fake.
While some demanded a DNA test on the woman’s first child, others are interested in the motivation behind the supposed staged kidnapping and pregnancy.
“This is a mind-boggling issue; we are all trying to understand and find out what exactly is the case. What we all knew was that she was pregnant, and then it turns out that it is fake. There was considerable evidence pointing to the fact that she was pregnant, so there is a bit of difficulty. So I will be happy to hear from the woman’s own mouth that she actually faked her pregnancy; from the horse’s own mouth, then I can believe.”
“I am here to know what the problem actually is. The information we have is that the woman has confessed and so we want to know whether it’s true or not. I want the police to go a step further for a DNA test if indeed the woman has a son because I believe what the police is saying that the woman is not pregnant. So there should be a DNA on the son that the woman claims she has had for three years”, another disturbed resident said.
Family and friends had gathered in groups at the police station following the revelation.
After her mother, Agnes Essel was released from police custody, Josephine Panyin Mensah was whisked away back into the cells.
But some residents still believe there is more to the story that ought to be told.
“The issue is horrifying and difficult to comprehend. So we want to see with our own eyes because a lot of people claim they saw her pregnant. Unless I get to see her, or she comes out publicly to confess that she was not pregnant, there is no way I will believe what the police have said.”
Another said: “I live in the same house with the woman, so I am really shocked. I see her almost every day with her protruding stomach with her other child. I will not believe claims that she is not pregnant.”
Woman faked pregnancy to please her husband – Police
The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, says Josephine Panyin Mensah faked her pregnancy to court her husband’s admiration and acceptance.
Speaking on Citi TV/Citi FM’s The Big Issue, ACP Ofori said the woman’s decision to fake the pregnancy and kidnapping was purely based on issues relating to her marriage.
He however clarified that Josephine had admitted that she hatched the plot alone, without the help of any relative.
“From her account, she said she did it alone just to satisfy her husband. It was a pure family issue that she wanted to portray that she was pregnant. She did all that for the admiration of her husband.”
Josephine Panyin Mensah, has been in the news since last Thursday after the media reported that she was nine months pregnant and had been kidnapped during a dawn walk.
She resurfaced a week later at Axim in the Western Region without her alleged pregnancy or baby.
She had claimed that she delivered the same day she went missing and that the kidnappers had stolen her baby.
Josephine’s relatives and neighbours however disagreed with the report of the Ghana Police Service.