Protestors hammer Mayor, Town Clerk over alleged rape of boy

By Devina Samaroo

A group of citizens are continuing their call for the removal of the Georgetown Mayor and the Town Clerk over their slothful approach in handling the alleged rape of a 15-year-old boy allegedly committed by a Lance Corporal attached to the city constabulary.

The teenager, who was detained for loitering at the City Constabulary, was allegedly raped by the Lance Corporal in charge in August 2017.

Reports are that Mayor Patricia Chase-Greene and Town Clerk Royston King were in receipt of the complaint which was filed by an eyewitness to the unlawful act but did nothing for over two months until reports of the incident began to surface in the media.

The protestors, who stood with placards outside of City Hall on Thursday, January 4, 2018, contended that no significant progress has been made since the matter was brought to the attention of the authorities. They particularly slammed the Mayor and Town Clerk as well as the Legal Affairs Committee of the Town Council for not swiftly acting on the information received regarding the alleged rape.

“They should all be dismissed, arrested and charge for the simple reason that they have all been protecting a child rapist for over two months before they made any reports to the police, Child Protection Agency (CPA) or anybody,” Jonathan Yearwood, a concerned citizen on the small picketing line expressed.

Yearwood said a larger group of concerned persons plan on using social media to generate public hue and cry.

“We are going to launch a war on social media about what they are doing,” he stated.

Don Singh, another protestor, also expressed similar concerns.

“Something has to be done. This is a microcosm of Guyana. Where bad things occur and then you call a big one and they’re being protected. (In this case) a rapist is being protected and if we don’t protect our children then we fail as a society. Best we all pack up and go home and drink rum and don’t do nothing,” Singh stated.

The men are hoping to bring the matter to the Local Government Commission once the body is prepared to receive and investigate complaints relating to local authority areas.

The corporal who witnessed the alleged rape and reported it to his supervisors was dismissed along with the alleged perpetrator but were subsequently reinstated and sent on administrative leave following the intervention of Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan

The matter was then transferred to the police.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last week returned the file to the police and requested that further investigations be conducted.

See related story here: https://admin.newsroom.gy/2018/01/02/eyewitness-to-alleged-rape-at-city-hall-wants-justice/