Widespread condemnation that followed the public’s learning of the gruesome death of 16-year-old Neesa Gopaul in 2010 was deemed justified. However, 12 years later, there is again widespread condemnation, as her case has come to its final conclusion with the Caribbean Court of Justice ruling on Friday. Her stepfather has been freed, and her mother remains in jail, though not for long.
The tale of this young girl’s life is disturbing, and her death is even more so. Indeed, the young girl could have been saved had the police and the Childcare and Protection Agency done their jobs, and other stakeholders, including school officials and villagers, done their part to protect her. Neesa’s death resulted from a systemic failure to protect her.
It is very disturbing that the girl, in the latter part of her life, had endured a lot at home, and although people knew of this, they failed to help her. Her death therefore was simply the culmination of a series of sadistic events that plagued the young girl’s life.
If one can recall that, in May 2021, subsequent to a meeting between Guyana’s First Lady and US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch, the US Embassy had issued a brief statement on issues the two discussed, to wit “…a vision for Guyana’s future, and the common areas of interest between the United States and Guyana”.
A statement from the Office of the First Lady had specified that during the meeting, First Lady Arya Ali expounded the ‘One Guyana’ platform, which seeks to examine biological and environmental factors that cause individuals to be excluded from various aspects of society, in particular differently-abled persons and children.
The interest the First Lady is taking in the vulnerable in society speaks volumes for her future engagements in the office she now holds consequent to her husband’s election to high office.
Her interest in the welfare of the vulnerable in society, especially children, would most likely extend to the eradication of the practice of child prostitution and trafficking of persons in Guyana. If she investigates these atrocities, she would be distressed and disgusted at the inhumane and cruel actions of perpetrators who prey on the vulnerable and helpless in society.
Unquestionably, she would strongly object to the practice wherein persons try to use children as prostitutes – male or female – especially since she feels so strongly about the protection of children and ensuring that they have the requisite quality of childhood that would ensure a healthy combination of mental, psychological, emotional and physical growth.
Child prostitution and trafficking in persons are absolutely heinous crimes that proliferate worldwide, and in some societies, where poverty is dire, some parents feel driven to sell their own children for pittances – destroying their own children for temporary relief from their pecuniary circumstances.
In Guyana many impoverished persons, especially children and females, have been lured away from their rural or hinterland homes with the promise of jobs, or by other means, only to sometimes find themselves in horrendous situations.
The previous Government had been plagued by some Public Servants not delivering on their mandate. In the Child Protection Services, this lackadaisical, laissez-faire attitude was a contributory factor that led to the saga of suffering and eventual murder of Neesa Gopaul, which was condemned in no uncertain terms by former Social Services Minister Priya Manickchand.
Many have tried and failed to eradicate this heinous scourge, even in societies more developed than ours, and it is highly commendable for Guyana’s First Lady to undertake this massive responsibility by which she seeks to provide a platform for empowerment/education and extrication from exploitation and abuse of the voiceless and vulnerable. Perhaps her zeal and passion may achieve what others have failed to accomplish – make Guyana a safe haven for the vulnerable in society.
