The apparent furious Obinim did not understand why a young boy, whose father had died, was still in school and being looked after by his mother, would have sex with an equally young girl who is learning a vocation.
The two, who confessed their ‘sins’ to Obinim when they were called before the entire congregation of the International God’s Way Church in Kumasi, were subjected to beating by the pastor with a men’s waist leather belt to the delight of the members of the church.
In a 2.59-minute video of the incident which has gone viral on social media since Wednesday, the pastor resolved to punish in a manner many have described as assault and against the human rights of the two.
How it unfolded
The video, which was recorded by someone from the pastor’s television channel, Obinim TV, started with one of Obinim’s right-hand men dragging the young girl who was wearing a white striaght dress to the podium
The young man was already seated on the stairs to the podium wearing a white trousers with no shirt on. The girl was then made to sit beside the boy as Obinim started whipping her while asking her “Are you foolish…You’re now learning a trade, you’re not even three months in that. Are you foolish…Are you foolish.”
As the girl consistently used her hands to block the strokes from the waist leather belt, Obinim paused and said “I will use the hook to hit you,” and then gave her some few strokes before moving on to the guy.
“Are you foolish, hasn’t she [the girl] told you she is pregnant for you?” Obinim asked the guy who responded in the affirmative saying “she’s told me”.
“Do you have money, do you have money to take care of the pregnancy?” Obinim asked him, and he responded “No, please”.
Obinim further asked: “A school boy like you, so does your mum have money to even look after you let alone the girl you have impregnated? Why are you so foolish like that?”
While asking them if they were foolish, Obinim continued to whip them with the belt as the ‘victims’ tried to block each stroke of the belt with their hands.
At a point the girl who could not endure the pain from the obvious assault in the name of having committed ‘ungodly’ act, ran to Florence Obinim, wife of the pastor, who was sitting comfortably in a sofa on the altar.
“If she comes there, slap her so that she returns,” Obinim told his wife as the girl ran to her to seek refuge. But one of Obinim’s abled lieutenants grabbed the girl back to the edge of the podium.
The man held the girl with her back to the pastor as he continuously landed some strokes on the young girl, repeatedly asking her “why are you foolish like that?” with each stroke of the belt.
The girl managed to relieve from the man’s grip and again ran to sit beside Florence Obinim in the sofa, while Obinim turned to the boy. He beat him while asking “will you get money to look after her after delivery?”
The boy’s plea for forgiveness was not enough for the aggressive pastor, as he continued to whip him saying “you are a bad boy.”
“I should forgive you? When you were having sex with her, you thought angel Obinim didn’t see you? If he didn’t, he will catch you in this room.
It did not end there, Obinim handed the belt to one of his right-hand men and asked him to beat the young boy and instructed another to also “remove your belt and beat” the girl.
Obinim then asked his wife to move away from the girl in the sofa in order for the man to beat her, shouting “Florence! move away!”.
His wife also obliged and got up from the sofa beaming with smiles.
Social media reaction
Popular radio personality, Nii Ayi Tagoe wondered whether the action of the pastor was what “people call this Christianity…I’m appalled. I know some fools will come and defend this”.
He said he was not happy with the Christian Council which has in recent times been swift in lambasting the government “but can’t bring this man to order”
“This is the reason I will never sit in a church building to worship……hypocrites!,” he concluded in the Facebook post.
A journalist, Halifax Ansah-Addo also wrote on Facebook: ” Religion defies logic. A pastor in Ghana flogs his church members…”
“Elders of the land…..what exactly are you doing about this…..this is very, very sad,” Amoateng Dennis, also posted on Facebook.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter @steviekgh_TV3
