A Takoradi circuit court presided over His Worship Michael Kwaddwo has fined Josephine Panyin Mensah, the woman at the centre of the fake kidnapping and pregnancy case GH¢7,200 on grounds of publication of false news.

The court also acquitted her of the charge of deceiving a public officer.

In September 2021, Josephine Panyin Mensah was all over the media for her alleged kidnapping story, which worried her family and the country.

When she was found in Axim, several miles away from Takoradi, she was mute, unkempt, and without any sign of the said pregnancy.

Claims that she delivered on the same day she was allegedly kidnapped with the baby taken by her supposed kidnappers were scrutinized after the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah said the pregnancy was fake.

Further, police investigations affirmed the Minister’s report on the matter that there was no pregnancy and that the kidnapping incident was staged.