With barely a month to go for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), three Junior High School girls at Ayetepa District Assembly Basic ‘A’ school in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra Region preparing to sit for the exam, are suspected to be pregnant.

There are reports of rampant pregnancy cases in the area, leading to abortions which result in deaths in most cases.

Speaking to Joy News, the Headmaster of Ayetepa District Assembly Basic ‘B’ school, Venatus Attah said almost every term, there are pregnancy cases in the various schools in the district. He says such cases are very obvious to all the teachers, but abortion cases become public knowledge when complications set in.

He described the abortion rate in the area as very alarming citing the case of a Junior High School girl who died at Mangotsonya, a nearby town shortly before schools went on vacation in December, last year.

Mr Venatus Attah says most of the girls who go through this experience have been left to fend for themselves by their parents who live outside the town and he identified poverty as the main cause of the problem.

The teenager was allegedly given medication by her 45 year old mother to terminate the three month old pregnancy.

Local Fm station based at Kumasi called Nhyira FM’s Ohemeng Tawiah reported that the mother Adjoa Frah has been arrested by the police to assist in investigations.

Two other suspected accomplices who are on the run are being sought by the police.

The reporter told Joy News that one of the two, named Rita was allegedly sent to buy the drug for the alleged abortion.

The other accomplice is a first year Junior High School pupil who is believed to be responsible for the pregnancy.

The girl tried to sneak out of the classroom when she apparently felt that the foetus was coming but luck run out for her.

The foetus dropped in front of the head teacher’s office.

She was rushed to the Efijuase government hospital where doctors confirmed it was an illegal abortion.

Her mother told Local Fm station based at Kumasi called Nhyira FM that she thought it was just a clot of blood and therefore wanted to clear it to allow her daughter to continue with her education.

She said if she had known, she would not have given the teenager the drug which was bought at GH¢5 as that could have caused the girl her life.

Madam Adjoa explained that the boy suspected to be responsible for the pregnancy lives nearby.

“She goes there to watch television that is how the pregnancy came about”, she said in Twi.

Meanwhile Chief Inspector Justice Lambert said the culprit and her accomplices will be prosecuted as soon as investigations are completed.