By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
There has been a rare but bizarre grave-looting incident at Mampong in the Ashanti Region.
This involved the stealing of a corpse from a grave exactly one year after burial by unknown suspected grave looters. Incidentally, this happened in the same week the bereaved family was to commemorate the first anniversary of the woman’s death.
An eyewitness told correspondent Nicholas Osei-Wusu that a day after the looting was detected, the corpse of the 85-year-old woman was secretly returned to the cemetery without the head, which appeared to have been intentionally severed with a sharp object.
A gravedigger, Kwame Effah, an eyewitness narrating the incident to correspondent Nicholas Osei-Wusu, noted that the theft was detected last Tuesday, 7 February 2026, when a colleague gravedigger alerted him to the situation. Mr Effah said that, based on his years of work experience and familiarity with the environment, he was able to identify the tomb and the bereaved family.
“The grave looters entered the tomb, the modern type which allows the coffin to be pushed in during burial, broke into the coffin and took away the corpse. All the articles, including the shroud, were left behind. I informed the Assemblyman for Akyeremade about the incident,” the gravedigger narrated.
According to him, the suspects might have taken advantage of a heavy downpour on Tuesday night to perpetrate the act.
Yaw Nsoh, the second of five children of the deceased, confirmed the body as that of his mother and said the incident occurred at a time the bereaved family was planning to commemorate the first anniversary of her death.
Mr Nsoh said that upon consultation with the deity, three suspects had been identified.
“When they begin to suffer death and other calamities, they’d confess to the abomination. I can’t name those identified. We can’t allow our mother to be desecrated like that,” he said.
The Assembly Member for the Akyeremade Electoral Area, Kwame Nkrumah, described the incident as bizarre and unheard of, saying it has caused some level of apprehension in the area.
“Not many in the area are aware of the incident, but among those who know, there is a bit of apprehension.
“Maybe we need to beef up security at the cemetery. The police are investigating it,” Mr Nkrumah said.
He added that the Mampong District Police Command has taken up the incident.
Later, under the supervision of the Mampong Police Command and the Municipal Environmental Health Office, the corpse was reburied, while the police began investigations to identify and arrest the suspects.
Meanwhile, the Mampong traditional authority says it has yet to be informed in accordance with custom to enable it to also conduct its own investigation before determining any appropriate action.
