A 28-year-old University of Guyana (UG) student accused of raping a nine-year-old girl last year was released on bail when he appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Andra Benn of Lot 1 North Section Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara was not required to plead to the indictable charge of carnally knowing a girl under the age of 12 years and was released on $150,000 bail by Magistrate Fazil Azeez.
It is alleged that between June 1 and June 30 last year at Boerasirie, East Bank Essequibo, Benn had carnal knowledge of the girl, who is now ten years old.
Attorney-at-law Lloyd Joseph entered an appearance for Benn. In his submissions he stated that his client is a final-year student at UG pursuing a diploma in civil engineering and is employed at the Ministry of Housing as a trainee engineer.
He said Benn is single and lives with his father at Den Amstel. Arguing that there is something “clearly peculiar about this case”, he noted that charges were not brought earlier because of insufficient evidence. “To our surprise he is now being charged,” he said, adding that “the character of the defendant is without question”. He indicated the presence of Benn’s father and pastor in court.
He said the allegation was never substantiated, adding that his client had only met the virtual complainant (VC) once.
“We live in peculiar times and I do not know if any pressure was exerted,” he said, noting that because of the charge his client’s “character and reputation could be marred substantially”.
He declared that while the police were conducting investigations his client had visited the station regularly. And he asked for reasonable bail to be granted.
Police Prosecutor Ramsahoye Rambajue in response, declared that the prosecution was opposing bail on the grounds that the police had a difficult time locating the accused.
He also asserted that the prosecution had received information that Benn had been intimidating the VC and her mother and sending threatening messages to them.
At this, the defence counsel reiterated that Benn did not know the family and saw the VC only once. “I don’t know where this is coming from,” he stated.
After listening to them the magistrate said that taking into consideration that Benn was about to graduate and he did not want to impede his studies he would grant him bail.
However, he warned Benn that if he breached the trust of the court, he would take a very serious view of it. He cautioned him not to issue any threats and to have no communication with the VC or her family.
He then set bail in the sum of $150,000 and ordered Benn to return to court on April 5 when the preliminary inquiry will commence.
