‘Uncle Pappi’ guilty of raping 11-year-old girl

Chandralall Lakhraj called ‘Uncle Pappi’ was on Monday found guilty of two counts of rape committed on an 11-year-old girl, who was left in his care.

Lakhraj was on trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds and a 12-member jury at the Berbice High Court.

He denied first charge indictments which alleged that between September 1 and October 9, 2019 he engaged in sexual penetration with the victim.

The man further denied that during the same period, he engaged in sexual activity with the child, by causing her to touch his penis.

A 12-member jury, after deliberating for over two hours, late Monday found Lakhraj guilty of the indictments.

Justice Reynolds deferred sentencing to September 13, pending the presentation of probation and other social impact reports.

Lakhraj was represented by attorney Chandra Sohan while the state was represented by prosecutor Nafeeza Baig.

According to the reports during the period in question, the victim was removed from her parent’s home due to neglect and placed in Lakhraj’s care by the authorities.

Lakhraj lived in the bottom flat of the home, no walls separating.  It had three beds and the victim would sleep inside of a hammock.

It is alleged that at night, Lakhraj would come to the victim’s hammock and sexually assault her.

The teen later confided in her school teacher and the matter was reported to the police.

In his defense, Lakhraj told the court he is innocent and was working in Suriname when the rape allegedly occurred.