…as woman falsely reports friend kidnapped by taxi driver
One day after disclosing that an 18-year-old faked her own kidnapping, Police have again reported a similar incident, this time involving a domestic worker.
Police on Thursday said that on Monday, a domestic worker of West Bank Demerara (WBD) reported to Brickdam Police Station that she was in the company of a female friend of Phoenix Park, WBD, at the Timehri bus park when a taxi from a popular service approached them.
The woman reported that her friend went to the car and the driver of the car snatched her and pulled her into the front passenger seat and drove away.
Police said that the domestic worker said that the incident occurred about 04:20h on Monday.
She also claimed that she later received a text message from the alleged victim’s phone saying “you have to come and find her or I will kill her.”
Following the said report, Police ranks went to a home at Number One Village, Corentyne, Berbice on Wednesday where the alleged kidnapped victim was located in the company of a male who said he was a construction worker of Kuru Kuru, Linden Highway.
They were both arrested, detained, and questioned by investigators, and the alleged victim – among other things – stated that she had not sent any message to anyone’s phone and more so, she had not been kidnapped.
Police said that the woman also stated that her male friend asked her to accompany him to Berbice which she did voluntarily and while in Berbice she learnt from her mother that her friend had told her that she had been kidnapped.
According to Police, the alleged victim said she told her mother she had not been kidnapped and had gone to Berbice of her own free will.
The male also gave a written statement supporting the woman’s assertions.
Police in a statement on Thursday said that several other persons were questioned by investigators as the probe continued. This is the third report of kidnapping that investigators of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown have been working on in the space of three days that have proven to be false.
On Monday, the 18-year-old claimed that she was abducted about 13:00h at Jimbo Bridge, Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) by persons unknown.
Police in a statement on Wednesday evening said that the teen, who was eventually found at the Kitty seawall, was interviewed at the CID Headquarters, Eve by investigators and admitted that her kidnapping story was fake.
Detailing the plan to fake her kidnapping, the teen told investigators that on Monday about 08:00h she contacted one of her friends via cellphone and asked her for a place to stay for a few days “to cool her head”. She said that she told her friend that she was feeling flustered and was drifting further into depression.
According to the teen, about 10:00h, she left her home to conduct business for a relative after which she met with her friend on Main Street, Georgetown who gave her the keys to the house at Jimbo Bridge and also informed her that a taxi would be waiting on her.
She then proceeded to her friend’s house. She stated that while in the house she was feeling mentally and physically tired, so she inflicted injuries on her stomach, legs, arms, and back with her fingernails.
In her statement to the Police, the teen said that on Tuesday, she took a pair of scissors and cut off her hair, and scratched her face because she was feeling the same way. Asked about burn marks visible on her skin, the teen said that she had inflicted those on herself on Sunday with a metal comb.
She told investigators that about 16:45h on Tuesday, she left the house, joined a taxi that was provided to her by her friend, and proceeded to the Kitty seawall, Georgetown in hopes that someone would see her and call her parents. She said that it was while at the seawall she decided that she would tell her parents that she had been kidnapped.
Police said that the teen further stated that while on the seawall she saw someone from her church, who called her parents and took her over to Brickdam Police Station. At the station, she told ranks who interviewed her that she had been kidnapped and a probe was launched.
