A man, who lured two teenaged Amerindian girls from their village in the Rupununi under the pretext that he could provide employment for them at his shop, is on the run after brutally raping one of them.
The incident allegedly occurred a week ago at the Itaballi Landing, where the man reportedly runs a small shop. Reports reaching this newspaper stated that the man met the teenagers at Lethem two days before the alleged rape.
He told them that he owns a house and shop and promised to pay them $30,000 per month if they agreed to work for him. The girls agreed and left with the man for the Itaballi Landing.
One of the girls, who reported the alleged rape, told police that on the first night since arriving at the man’s home, she and her friend were asleep when the man entered their room.
He reportedly asked the girls which one of them would sleep with him for the night.
When the girls refused, he reportedly picked up a bottle containing a corrosive fluid and threatened to pour it on them. One of the girls became afraid. She was forcibly hustled into the man’s room where he had sex with her against her will.
The following day, the girls made their way to the Bartica Police Station where they reported the matter.
The sexually assaulted girl was escorted to the hospital where she was medically examined.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, it was not clear whether the suspect was arrested. This latest incident comes in the wake of efforts to halt the incidence of trafficking in persons-TIP.
Recently, a restaurant proprietor in Berbice was arrested along with four teenaged girls when police swooped down on the establishment last week as part of their efforts to suppress the new phenomenon.
However, he is still to appear in court as the police contemplate how to proceed with the case. One of the girls has since told the police that she was forced into prostitution.
Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick, had stated that draft legislation on TIP would have been ready by this week.
Minister Shadick said her Ministry and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs were dealing with the issues but, at the time, these did not fall under the definition of the TIP international protocol, which came into being in December 2003. The protocol defines TIP as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of the threat of the use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation, according to the protocol, shall include the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
Shadick stated that Guyana already had legislation to deal with the issues, which fall under TIP, even though it did not have a specific Act for TIP.
“We wish to bring to the attention of the business people that the laws exist and we are asking the police to prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law,” she said.
Minister Shadick said that the Ministry had formulated a plan of action in April to deal with issues such as child labour, sexual exploitation, minibus riding by young girls for material rewards and similar irregular practices.