Three male students of a Wakenaam secondary school along with a 17-year-old boy were up to last evening in the custody of the San Souci police, after they attempted to rape a 14-year-old girl at a house on the Essequibo island on Wednesday.
While Stabroek News was in the San Souci area yesterday, police were busy scouring the island for the 17-year-old boy and he was reportedly found at a farm on the island yesterday afternoon.
According to reports, the three male students and the older teen, lured the girl to the house, located two doors away from the San Souci Police Station, some time during school hours on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old then attempted to sexually assault the young woman, but she resisted and raised an alarm. The three male students then ran out of the house, locking the door behind them.
The girl was rescued by a nearby resident who reported the matter to the police outpost.
Sources in the area said the house is owned by a relative of one of the boys involved in the incident.
Police were grilling the three students yesterday as their parents stood by, worried expressions on their faces. Residents in the area said that the 17-year-old and some other young men were “bad influences” on young males in the area, as they are known to be using illicit substances. One resident told this newspaper that the girl was lucky to have escaped, noting that the island remembers clearly the rape/murder of young Judy Sooklall who was brutally killed there several years ago. Residents said Wakenaam lacked extra-curricular activities, leaving youth in the area with no alternative but to pursue “wrong activities”.
