A pastor has been arrested for allegedly attempting to bury a five-month-old baby alive at Abofrem in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region.

The suspect, Apostle Doctor Richmond Akwasi Frimpong, head pastor of Anointed Grace Prayer Ministry at Kuffour Camp, was apprehended following the incident, which has left residents in shock.

An eyewitness, Winfred Agbah, explained that he spotted the pastor and an accomplice at a refuse dump at about 11 p.m., holding the baby under suspicious circumstances.

During his statement, he said, "I came to meet the three of them in the grave so I asked them what they're doing and they responded that their baby is dead and they are coming burry him.

"So the one holding baby passed me to give the baby to the one in the grave and I was like the baby you claim is dead, is he not the one breathing and what shows that the baby is dead so the man placed baby on the ground and asked me to check that the baby is dead.

"So I opened the cloth around the baby and saw that the baby's eyes are opened and the hands are all shaking which means the cloth around his head made the baby not to breath well. So when I uncloth it and saw that baby is not dead so I will not allow them to burry the baby.

"And they said that the baby is dead and even informed Nana(Chief) and I said if you've Nana then you didn't say actual thing so they should come along because I will not allow this thing to happen and I sent them to the chiefs," he explained.

The Chief Linguist of Abofrem, Nana Yaw Badu, also confirmed that the pastor had earlier informed him that the baby had died, prompting him to direct them to a burial site.

To him, "he was unaware? the child was still alive at the time."

However, police at Bibiani have since arrested the suspect and his accomplice, and assured the public that investigations are ongoing.

The baby has been taken to Abofrem Clinic and is receiving medical treatment.