The police in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) have expressed concern over the high instances of rape being recorded in that region, particularly statutory rape; and are trying to get regional politicians involved in tackling the problem.
Rape has become the number one crime of concern for police in that region, and according to Deputy Police Commander, Superintendent Lansdale Withrite, rape has reached worrying propositions. For this year, there have already been eight reported cases, with five of those cases being classified as statutory rape. In all five cases, the victims were girls.
Superintendent Withrite recently addressed the Region Five Democratic Council (RDC) on this situation. He said,
“The highest crime that is plaguing the division is rape; and not just rape, but rape of juveniles. Even worse, the age group is between 12 to 14; the state plays a critical role in the protection of those members of our society. As leaders of this region, I think we all have a role to play in protecting those persons that are being targeted.”
He called on Regional Councillors, and by extension the RDC, to play an active role in educating persons on this topic. According to the senior police officer, rape is a highly underreported crime.
“Rape is particularly problematic because it premise on fear, embarrassment, etc. So, when this happens, it is very often underreported,” he disclosed.
He called on members of the RDC to be more vigilant within their communities, and further emphasised that to reduce instances of rape, especially statutory rape effectively, all stakeholders have to work together.
“It is not something that the police alone could deal with, because we only know about it when it happened; there is nothing that we can do about the damage done to the child. We could deal with the perpetrator, but we would like to prevent this particular crime from happening as much as possible. In our crime stats, that is the highest by far; it is about five times more than robbery,” he disclosed.
This, the Deputy Commander said, is unacceptable. He noted that the department and the RDC have a mandate to protect the youths of the region.
Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal has said a meeting with stakeholders will be held shortly to address the issue. Victims can seek support by calling 914, which is a toll-free number. This means the call can be placed even if the caller has no credit in their phone. (G4)
