Life imprisonment without parole for rapist

Wesley Bazil, also known as ‘Trappy’, was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for raping a 15-year-old girl.

Bazil, a shopkeeper, was sentenced by Justice Navindra Singh at the Georgetown High Court. Last month, a 12-member jury found him guilty of two counts of rape.

And after hearing the verdict, he attempted to commit suicide. On Thursday, during his sentencing hearing, the court heard that Bazil was convicted of a similar crime in New Jersey, United States.

“I’m sorry for my behaviour,” Bazil told the court during his address.

The victim, in her impact statement, said that the crime was the “most traumatising situation” that has severely impacted her life.

She told the court that she dropped out of secondary school, indulged in self-harm and would run away from home frequently due to the pain she was in.

State Prosecutor, Tiffani Lyken, asked the court to consider the nature, gravity and prevalence of the crime along with the need to send a strong message to deter like-minded offenders.

Justice Singh, in his sentencing remarks, said that Bazil “dragged the child through a trial knowing fully what he did.”

Among other things, Justice Singh said that the convict showed no remorse for his actions and was a “calculated predator.”

According to reports, during the month of December 2020, the victim would visit Bazil’s shop where he would often sexually molest her.

However, during the month of January 2021, the teen was sent to the shop by her parents when Bazil took her to the back of his yard and raped her.

Two months later, the matter was reported to the Police after the victim’s parents found her cellphone and saw messages of the child confiding in a friend about the incident.