Wa police arrest serial paedophile for defiling over 30 girls

Rashid Anaata, a popular beautician and wedding decorator in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region has been arrested and is currently facing prosecution for defiling more than thirty girls in the municipality.

The girls, mostly aged between 10 and 13, had similar stories about how the man lured them into his room and forcibly had carnal knowledge of them.

In May this year when three of the defiled girls exposed the alleged paedophile in a viral social media video, he went into hiding. Police searches failed to find him. But luck eluded him when the police, acting on intelligence, apprehended him in his hideout in the Upper West Region last week.

He has since been put before court and charged with defiling 12 children, who have been medically examined and have come forward to give evidence. The rest of the 30 girls have not joined the prosecution yet, according to the State Attorney handling the matter.

Rashid Anaata was first reported to the police for defiling a schoolgirl in 2016. However, the case was later withdrawn when pressure was brought to bear on the victim’s mother.

But in May 2023 the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bahass Foundation, Mr Eliasu Baba Yussif reported him to the police again over the defilement of three girls. The police acted swiftly but Mr Rashid Anaaba had already absconded.