The young woman who was assaulted by Jihad Chaaban, the Lebanese Supervisor at the Abelenkpe Branch of the Marwako Fast Food, has denied claims by the management of the company that the company is taking care of her.
She claims she has personally paid for all her medical bills and bought prescribed drugs from pharmacies from her meagre savings.
The victim, Evelyn Boakye, told the Daily Graphic that she was shocked when she read portions of a statement issued by the company to the effect that it was taking care of her in the media.
Showing copies of receipts of bills from the Eye Clinic of the Achimota Hospital, as well as Jinlet Pharmacy in Accra, she said: “I paid for all these without help from anyone.”
Evelyn, who now has red eyes, said, “I now depend on my grandmother and my siblings. Since the incident happened, I have not heard from my employees.”
Statement
The management of Marwako, in an earlier statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alhaji Marwan Mohammed, said Marwako was “providing the best of care and ensuring the best interest of the victim and assures that it will not sacrifice the reputation it has built for itself over the last 12 years in Ghana as an entity that looks out for its employees who are credited for the best services it renders to its clients”.
However, Evelyn, whose face was allegedly dipped in blended pepper by Chaaban, claimed she was yet to receive any form of care from the company.
Apology
She also denied some assertions made by Chaaban in an apology letter addressed to her and circulating on social media.
In the said letter, copied to the Human Resource Manager of Marwako Fast Food, Chaaban said, “I wish personally to sincerely apologise to you for the incident on the night of February 26, 2017 at our Abelenkpe place of work. True to God, all I sought to do was to point to you something I found wrong.
“I admit I was angry a bit at the moment and saw you panic and accidentally resulting in the pepper splashing onto your face.”
“I was deeply worried when I didn’t find you minutes after the incident, but a bit relieved when I traced you immediately to the dressing room and got my colleague supervisor to rush you to the pharmacy which, unfortunately, had closed at that time of the night,” he added.
Chaaban further claimed he had asked a colleague supervisor to take the victim to a clinic for proper check-up a day after the incident, adding that the transport fare he gave the victim to pick a car to the hospital on the night of the incident was not meant to be a bribe.
Evelyn, who claimed she sighted the apology letter on social media, said, “Nobody took me to any pharmacy or clinic and it was one of the workers who gave me GH¢50 to use for transportation home when I was finally released after being locked up for hours.”
Minister’s assurance
Meanwhile, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba, has assured Ghanaians that Chaaban will be dealt with according to the law.
She said measures were being put in place to deal with the matter and that it would not be swept under the carpet, as envisaged by many.
Ms Djaba posted on her Facebook timeline and gave an assurance that the necessary measures were being put in place to address the issue. “Justice will surely come to play. Thank you all for your concern,” she wrote.
Chaaban was arrested and interrogated by the police following the incident but he is currently on bail pending further investigations.
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