Man jailed for armed robbery acquitted of rape charge

Ejaz Ali Khan, a 32-year-old man who is serving a three-year jail sentence for the offence of robbery, was on Wednesday afternoon acquitted of a rape charge after a jury at the Demerara High Court returned a unanimous not-guilty verdict.
This former resident of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) had been on trial before Justice Navindra Singh for the offence of rape, contrary to Section 3 (3) of the Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03. Upon his arraignment, he had entered a plea of not guilty.

The prosecution’s case was led by State Counsel Nafeeza Baig.
It was the prosecution’s case that, on July 28, 2020, Khan barged into the victual complainant’s shop, cuffed her and slammed her head into a wall, while threatening to burn down her house if she reported him to the Police. He then allegedly told her that he was carrying a gun, after which he reportedly forced his penis inside her mouth. Before escaping, he grabbed the woman’s gold earrings and stole $150,000 from her shop.
In relation to the theft of those items, Khan was convicted of armed robbery by a magistrate, and sentenced to imprisonment for three years. As it relates to the rape charge, he was committed to stand trial in the High Court, but was freed on Wednesday.
During brief remarks before Justice Singh, the robbery convict expressed that life in prison is “hard”, and vowed not to make the same mistakes again.(G1)