Eyewitness to alleged rape at City Hall wants justice

By Bibi Khatoon

Corporal Quacuy Baveghens, the eyewitness in the City Hall sex scandal, in which a City Constable was allegedly caught having sex with a 15-year-old boy on August 15, 2017, wants justice.

Though the matter is in the hands of the Guyana Police Force, Baveghens is on Administrative Leave and says he cannot understand why he is being penalised when he was not part of the crime.

“I am not the alleged perpetrator in this matter neither the Guyana Police Force is not investigating me, I am merely the witness and the reporter in this matter and I need my matter to be addressed immediately,” the Corporal said during an interview with the News Room on Tuesday, January 2, 2018.

He alleged that he was sent on administrative leave because the Lance Corporal involved, is a close associate of City Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green and Town Clerk, Royston King.

“I am feeling I have been punished because as we all know, people have friends in high places and the said Lance Corporal has friends in high places in the Mayor and City Council,” the father of six said.

Since the matter was exposed to the media, the Mayor and Town Clerk were both accused of trying to cover it up.

Chase-Green during a meeting of the Council in November alleged that Bhavegens failed to report the matter in a timely manner to those in charge, but the Corporal told News Room that he reported the incident as soon as his superior turned up to work the same day. This he said was then communicated to others including the Town Clerk.

He also pointed out that no diary entry was made of the incident since the accused was the head of the station at the time.

On August 15, 2017, a Lance Corporal attached to the City Constabulary was allegedly caught having sex with a 15-year-old boy who was detained for loitering.

Corporal Baveghens who allegedly saw the act and reported it to his superiors was dismissed along with the suspect but they were both reinstated following the intervention by the Minister of Communities.

They were subsequently sent on administrative leave and the matter transferred to the police. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last week returned the file to the police and requested that further investigation be conducted.

It is not the first time that the Lance Corporal is involved in a matter of this nature.