Girl, 7, snatched from home, raped; cops refuse to take missing person’s report, assist family

By Bibi Khatoon

A 7-year-old girl from Region Seven is hospitalised after she was snatched from her bedroom in the wee hours of Friday and raped by an 18-year-old boy.

The incident occurred at between 3:00am and 3:45am. The child’s distraught mother told the News Room that she retired to bed just around 22:00h with her smallest child, while the 7-year-old and her brother, went to sleep in a separate room.

The mother said she woke up at around 3:00h and noticed her son in her bed and so she went to check on her daughter when she discovered her missing. She also noticed the door to her house was opened and so she ran outside desperately looking for her daughter.

The young mother of three said she was joined by neighbours and a search party was launched.

“The area is a bushy area. I was in the bushes, I was down at the creek and couldn’t find my daughter.”

POLICE REFUSED TO HELP

But the mother is disappointed in the actions of the police given the fact that they were contacted to help the family in the search but the ranks told the mother that she can only file a missing person’s report after 24 hours have elapsed.

Enraged, she said: “I don’t know how that is possible, a [child] just missing out of their bed 3 ‘O’clock in the morning and you got to wait 24hrs?”

After 30 minutes into the search, two police officers arrived at the location in their All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) to take the mother to the police station to file a report, but she refused to leave the search for her daughter.

“Why should I leave my child out there to go back with him…the police got highly annoyed and decided to ride off.”

Some 15 minutes into the search, the little girl was found naked by relatives in a bushy area leading to a creek.

“She was wearing no clothes, she was battered,” the mother said, noting that the police officers insisted on taking the family to the police station.

“The police did not have any remorse,” the mother told the News Room.

After some insistence, the mother wrapped her daughter in a towel and travelled to the police station in an attempt to get the matter sorted out as soon as possible, so she can then transport the child to seek medical attention.

But their trauma did not end.

“When we go there, we had to wait until a female police wake up. At 3am they have nothing else to do but I have to wait until the officer wake up,” the mother complained.

Unable to wait until the police were ready to take the statement, the woman said she left the police station and took the 7-year-old to the hospital where she was admitted in a stable condition.

“The words could not even come out of my mouth to ask her what was wrong. I got in back to the vehicle and took her to the hospital. She is very traumatised,” the frustrated mother told the News Room.

The suspect, an 18-year-old delinquent, was arrested thirty minutes after the child was found but the mother believes had the police responded earlier, her daughter could have been saved the trauma.

“Maybe had they decide to ride down this track, they would have been able to scare them off and they won’t harm my child.

“They [police] did nothing, absolutely nothing! These strong men in uniform did absolutely nothing to help my daughter,” she said.

Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Ann Greene said a report was made to the agency and an officer is following the case.

The News Room understands that the suspect remains in custody as the investigation continues.

Relatives told the News Room that the suspect is a “known delinquent” in the community and previously broke into houses of other residents.

It is also alleged that the teenager raped animals in the past and reports to the police proved futile.

According to the relative, several reports were made to the police but “the police said them can’t do anything.”