A mother is appealing for intervention by government after she reported that welfare workers from the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) made false allegations against her daughter with the motive of having her taken away from her custody.
According to the woman, Debbi Tappin, welfare workers visited her mother’s home demanding that she hand over her granddaughter.
Tappin related to Guyana Times that on 11 May her mother was at her home in Sophia when three officials insisted that the young girl be handed over to their care as she was reportedly being “sexually abused” and was “pregnant”.
However, after the grandmother refused, making it clear that the child’s mother was not at home at the time, the officials had left indicating that Tappin should visit the agency to settle the issue.
Tappin reported that when she visited the agency the same day she was escorted by the welfare officers to the Turkeyen Police Station where she was told by a senior officer that she was under arrest.
This publication understands that while the woman was at the station demanding information about her arrest and the reason behind her daughter being taken away, the welfare workers once again visited her mother’s home.
While at the station, Tappin alleged that the officer assaulted her as she was trying to make her way out of the building.
“While I was going through the gate, this man who identified himself as Mr Benn chucked me back against the gate post and the women officers were right there, he could have let them handle the situation” she related.
She further stated that when the welfare officials returned to the station with her daughter, the child was taken into a private room where she was questioned by the officials.
“They didn’t want me to go in, they said that I wasn’t allowed in. When my daughter came out and I asked her what happened, she told me that they told her she had been raped and was now pregnant,” Tappin explained.
Shocked at the unprofessionalism of the officials, Tappin related that she asked the officers to take her and the child to the Georgetown Public Hospital to have a test carried out in order to ascertain the claims.
However, according to the mother, after tests were done on the child it showed she was not pregnant and had not been sexually abused.
The enraged mother told this publication that she became annoyed since her family was embarrassed as news had circulated that her grade five daughter was pregnant.
According to her, she took her daughter to the CPA the following day where she met with Director Ann Greene whom she believed would have been able to offer help.
However this was not the case as Greene allegedly informed her that nothing would come out of the case and that she should “drop it.”
Subsequent visits to the Minister of Social Protection were futile as each time she ended up meeting with Greene.
The woman is calling on the ministry to investigate the matter since her daughter is facing the brunt of the offensive action.
She explained that students from her daughter’s school are aware of the matter also and have been teasing the child about being pregnant.
“I need something to be done because my daughter is suffering. She went to school and every student is teasing her, now she doesn’t even want to go anymore. She had exams but I can’t force her to go,” Tappin exploded.
Attempts to get on to Childcare and Protection Agency Director Ann Greene and Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence for responses to the allegations made were unsuccessful.
