Aba Hagan has been arrested in the US for punishing her child the way most Ghanaian mothers do –inserting ginger in her son’s anus.
40-year-old Aba was arrested on Thursday after officers were dispatched to Rachel Road apartment at about 8 p.m. on a reported domestic dispute. Where they found a naked boy believed to be Aba’s son who said she inserted ginger into his anus.
Apparently, Ms. Hagan denied doing anything but insisted, “he had messed up in school and she punished him,” according to reports. Later she relented and confessed to having placed a piece of ginger into the boy’s anus.
Officer Daniel Roberts wrote, “I asked why she would do this and she stated this was a common punishment in her home country of Ghana, Africa.”
Another person in the apartment said he had seen similar punishment done in Africa, but knew it was an intolerable practice in America and had made Aba aware. Doctors assessed the boy and took him to Manchester Memorial Hospital. A report of suspected child abuse or neglect was forwarded to the state Department of Children and Families, Officer Daniels reported.
Ginger is used as a form of corporal punishment among some Ghanaian families by inserting into the vagina (for girls) or anus (for boys). The ginger causes a burning sensation and prolonged discomfort which is thought to deliver ‘sense’ to the sufferer.
The article was first published in 2019
