I was never pregnant – Takoradi woman allegedly confesses

• She was found on September 21 with no sign of the pregnancy or a baby

• Laboratory tests and analyses done so far proved she was not pregnant

Josephine Panyin Mensah has reportedly confessed about circumstances leading to her disappearance and reappearance, as well as her supposed nine-month-old pregnancy.

According to a Starr News report, the woman opened up to a team of medical officers and investigators who are attending to her at the Effia-Nkwanta Government Hospital in the Western Region.

The report attributed to a top police source indicates that Josephine confessed to not being pregnant amid uncontrollable tears while begging her husband, Michael Simmons, for forgiveness.

The husband who is said to have been ignorant about Josephine’s fake pregnancy has since been in shock.

Josephine Panyin Mensah, now a police suspect, is said to have denied her husband sex over the past three to four months with claims that it could cause her to lose her supposed pregnancy.

The police source reportedly disclosed further that the woman who has been under close monitoring by security and medical officials since her reappearance on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, has not requested for a sanitary pad to soak blood which would have ordinarily dripped as a result of her giving birth.

The source further reiterated that all laboratory tests and analyses done so far suggest that she was not pregnant, neither has given birth.

In a related development, a senior medical officer at the Effia-Nkwanta hospital whose name has been withheld has indicated that the victim was probably suffering from Pseudocyesis.

Pseudocyesis is defined by the DSM-5 as a false belief of being pregnant that is associated with objective signs and reported symptoms of pregnancy, which may include abdominal enlargement, reduced menstrual flow, amenorrhea, subjective sensation of fetal movement, nausea, breast engorgement and secretions, and labor.

Meanwhile, management of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital say they are yet to release the medical records of Josephine to the police.

Medical Director of the health Facility, Dr Joseph Tambil, told Empire News that the facility is likely to release the medical report of the alleged victim, now suspect, to the police on Monday.

“The Police people are on the grounds and may have spoken to people but at the moment we haven’t issued a formal report to the Police. And I’m not in a position to confirm if she was pregnant or not until our report is given to the appropriate quarters,” he stated.

Mr Tambil has reportedly intimated that Josephine Mensah is in stable condition and responding to treatment and has assured that the facility will not be compromised in its work.

Background of Josephine Mensah’s alleged kidnapping

Josephine was reported to the police as missing on September 16, with later reports indicating that some alleged kidnappers got in touch with her family to demand a ransom for her return.

She was found by a carpenter in Axim on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 and was said to be unable to speak from trauma.

She is reported to have requested for a pen and a paper through which she communicated her ordeal to the people who found her.

According to a carpenter who found her, a traumatized Josephine informed him through writing that she went into forced labour when the kidnappers grabbed her. He further stated that the baby died and was taken away from her.

Her family and security officers were later contacted and she was sent to a health facility at Axim for medical attention.