A West Demerara man who had been confined at the Camp Street Prison awaiting trial will now be able to enjoy his liberty after a jury acquitted him of two counts of child sexual activity at the High Court in Georgetown on Monday.
Sunil Dindial moments after he was escorted to freedom
Sunil Dindial had been accused of rape of a child under 16 years old by penetrating a pre-teen female using his finger; but the 12-member jury found him not guilty of this indictment in the proportion of 11-1.
On the second count, Dindial was indicted for sexual activity with the same child by way of kissing her; but during their nearly three-hour deliberations, the jury again found him not guilty, albeit by a 10-2 proportion.
Both offences were alleged to have occurred on October 3, 2016 at a community in Demerara, and Dindial was said to be then in his late 40s.
After the verdict was handed down, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall told Dindial that he had been found not guilty and was free to go. Released from the shackles, Dindial gleefully exited the courtroom and was escorted out on his path to freedom.
Dindial had been represented by Attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson, while State Prosecutor Shawnette Austin had led the prosecution. This was the first case to be tried at the new Sexual Offences Court, which was launched at the High Court on November 14.
At that launch, it was highlighted by Acting Chancellor JusticeYonette Cummings-Edwards that over the last two sessions of the Demerara Assizes, the statistics have shown that more than 50 per cent of the cases involved sexual offences.
“So if half of the list comprised sexual offences, it meant that the other indictable offences…took second place…that is something we have to address,” she highlighted.
The Supreme Court of Judicature hopes to take the Sexual Offences Court model to the other two counties – Berbice and Essequibo – in an effort to reduce the increased incidents of such cases.
