2 in custody for raping 7-year-old

Two persons have been arrested by Police in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), for the abduction and rape of a seven-year-old girl.
Regional Commander of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Dion Moore on Saturday said: “There were two suspects implicated, we arrested the two suspects, they are still in custody, we have since launched an in-depth investigation, including the representative from the Child Care Protection Agency.”
Commander Moore added that a file is currently being prepared to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and will be delivered no later than Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the seven-year-old victim remains a patient at the Bartica Regional Hospital. The child’s mother realised that her daughter was missing when she awoke sometime after 04:00h to use the bathroom. The woman has since related that she went into her children’s bedroom to check on them and noticed that her daughter was not in bed. She said that she made checks in the house but upon seeing the house door open she raised an alarm. Neighbours joined her in her search for the child and they found her in a bushy area a short distance from her home. The child was bloody, naked and in an unconscious state. She was picked up and rushed to the Bartica Hospital. The search party also found one of the suspects in the area. In a video seen by this publication, residents of the community were consumed with anger while one of the suspects was being placed in the back of a police ATV to be taken to the station.
The residents were seen in the video armed with pieces of wood dealing the suspect several blows about his body. He has since implicated another person. Police have since taken the second person into custody. The child’s mother has been very critical of the police handling of the matter. She believes that had the police acted swiftly, her daughter would have been saved from the trauma she faced. An investigation has been launched.