Dharamlall rape allegation: DPP advises Police not to charge Minister after victim withdraws complaint

– says no legal provision for Police to proceed with matter

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Tuesday advised that there is no legal provision for the Police to proceed with a rape accusation filed against Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall by a 16-year-old girl.
The victim had, on Friday last, given a “no further action statement” to investigators in the presence of one of her parents and a representative of the Child Care and Protection Agency.

Based on this new development, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) stated, “The Director of Public Prosecution concluded that, in the absence of the victim’s complaint, there is no legal provision for the Police to proceed with the matter.”
The release added that the file was returned to the DPP Chambers on Tuesday, based on advice for further investigations to be conducted. After mere hours, the file was returned to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum with the necessary advice.
The DPP, in her advice, stated that the victim’s decision to withdraw the complaint was not influenced by anyone, and that same was done in her best interest.
“The DPP also proffered her advice based on the fact that the virtual complainant’s statement was taken by a forensic interviewer in the presence of a parent, a Child Care officer, and a Police officer; and that such statement was free and voluntary,” the GPF related.

Exactly one week ago, the DPP had advised the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to conduct further investigations into the allegation of rape against the Minister. Since the file was sent to the DPP on the first occasion, several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and members of the Opposition had staged protests at her office for some form of urgency to be placed on this particular matter. However, the DPP’s Chambers had responded that the file was being given due legal attention, while making it clear that constitutional functions are discharged in an impartial manner.
“This Police file in question is only one of thousands of Police files that the DPP’s Office receives from all stations in all 10 administrative regions of Guyana for legal attention. Files for persons in custody are given priority. The DPP’s Office will continue to carry out its constitutional functions in an impartial manner,” the DPP Office had said in its statement.
But ever since Friday, when the news broke that the teen did not want to proceed with the matter, the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) joined other organisations in calling for an independent investigation, since it believes the new development resulted from improper investigation and systemic emotional abuse by the authorities.
“Over the course of the investigation, we have noted reports of the denial of counsel to the child, and the Police treating her more like a suspect rather than a victim of a serious crime. The APA is also concerned about the role played by the Welfare Officers of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) in this whole investigation. It is clear, from the press reports, that the child’s interests were not adequately represented by those entrusted to protect her,” the Association noted.
As such, it has demanded an investigation into the conditions under which this child was being kept, and the Police’s conduct of the investigation. The APA has said it is dismayed at this conclusion, and awaits the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
In the interim, the APA has also called on the Child Care and Protection Agency to provide answers to several questions, including whether Standard Operating Procedures were employed in addressing the allegations.
In addition, the APA wants to know if the Guyana Police Force had followed standard operating procedures (SOPs) in dealing with allegations against the Minister, and whether or not there was any confrontation between the child and the accused.
In another missive to the press, it stated that “Since the allegations were made public, we have been appalled by reports of Police intimidation of the child’s family; of an attempt being made to bribe the family of the complainant; of the child being denied legal counsel; of the lack of impartial support for the child once she was placed in custody of the State; of the child being taken to the crime scene while Dharamlall was on the premises; and of the back-and-forth of the case file between the Police and the DPP.”
Further, a group of leaders in several Indigenous communities penned “We are fearful that these allegations will not be fully investigated, and that the Indigenous child will be left to bear the trauma of not only the alleged vicious assault on her body, but also that of the brutal handling of this case by Guyana’s criminal justice system.
Like many Indigenous women, girls, and boys within Guyana, her body was, and is, vulnerable to racial abuse and sexualising; which we cannot ignore, as it places her at risk, in the first place.”
Meanwhile, President Dr Irfaan Ali had assured that he would respect the outcome of the investigation, and indicated that the fate of Dharamlall as a Government Minister would be determined at the appropriate time.
“As President, I have no choice but to stand behind the decisions of the institutions. The institutions are independent of the Executive. It’s not a matter of standing behind, it is a matter of respecting whatever outcome is there,” the Head of State told media operatives.
“I am very strong on people’s rights and women and children; there is no compromise with that. I made it very clear from the inception that there is a procedure that has to be followed, and we have to trust our system. That system has commenced the investigation. I am not involved with that. The Minister proceeded on leave to allow that system to work. When the system completes its work, then subsequent decisions will be made,” President Ali added.
Minister Dharamlall is currently on administrative leave, following the allegation of rape which first surfaced on social media two weeks ago. The allegations attracted the attention of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA), who launched investigations into the matter.
The Police Force had confirmed that an investigation was launched; and, in fact, the sitting Minister had presented himself at the Brickdam Police Station in the company of his lawyer, where he was arrested and placed on $1,000,000 bail as Police probed the matter.
The Minister had retained the services of Hughes, Fields & Stoby, which is Nigel Hughes’s law firm, to represent him in this matter. All the allegations have been denied, Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes has indicated.