Police statistics have revealed that sexual offences reported in Division One (Barima-Waini) are on the increase, continuing a trend that has lasted over a number of years.
In a recent episode of “Police and You”, Region One Commander, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud, confirmed this information, while stating it is a matter of concern. The Commander said most of these cases are reported after pregnancy had occurred.
“We’ve had a 240 percent in increase in rape in Region 1… it is occurring in the Amerindian settlement…When you say statutory rape, is like consensual sexual intercourse, knowing that the person is underage and cannot give consent, and the target age there is between 12 and 15”, he said.
So far, there were 48 complaints compared to 14 last year, and 14 had been against 3 the previous year, according to the Commander.
“I don’t mean to mention that it will be a cultural norm or anything… We did a lot of sensitisation programmes since the year commenced. Before I was there, the previous Commander also did some; so, we talked to them about what is the age of consent and those things, and by knowing that, I am in the opinion that this is why more persons are coming on board (In terms of reports).
The Divisional Commander added that, in many cases, the Police have challenges in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“When these things are reported, sometimes they give information like ‘I know he is a Dougla boy from Georgetown’, sometimes they would give you one calling name, and call a far-off village; so, the victims themselves don’t actually give us the information that we need to get to the suspect.”
On this note, the Commander said of the 48 complaints that were made in regard to rape this year, there was only one report of forced rape, and the suspect in the matter was a Venezuela migrant who has not yet been arrested.
“…this is because of the information on the migrants… they’re not Guyanese, they are still on the run”, he said.
To curb the increase in these cases, the Commander said it calls for sensitisation of the communities on the issue at hand. “That is why it will be eliminated at some stage. The Toshao and some of the persons that are responsible, the councillors, we do tell them they should be stricter a little more, and let the parents understand what is the consent age.”
The Commander is of the hope that, in the new year, there will be a great reduction in the number of statutory rape cases in the Region.
“So, even though the reports are many this year, I’m hoping that we might get a significant reduction in time to come”, he said. (G9)
