The mother of four of the boys at centre of the sexual molestation scandal at the Turkeyen Masjid says that her sons are being denied justice because of the failure by police to charge the suspect.
“I need justice. I need him to be charged and put before the court. I want the religious community to come down on people with these kinds of behaviour and stop covering up… let them be brought to justice,” the woman, who is struggling to come to grips with the recent revelations, told Stabroek News, while also revealing that she being shunned by the Muslim community and is receiving threats.
Two weeks have passed but police are yet to institute charges against the Muslim scholar who has been implicated in the abuse. Ten boys have so far been identified in the scandal but one is still to be found. Medical officials have confirmed that seven of the nine found were sexually molested, while the other two, during questioning, told police investigators and Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) officials that they had been fondled.
‘C’ Division Commander David Ramnarine, in an invited comment, told Stabroek News that unknowing to him an attorney, who is watching the interest of the suspect, wrote to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, and detailed concerns.
“As far as I am aware some amount of attention is being given to the letter,” he said, while noting that although it was submitted days ago he did not see it until yesterday, when the case file was sent back to him.
He explained that the police file left his office for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice last Friday. However, some time yesterday it was returned to him and included inside was the letter submitted by the attorney.
According to Commander Ramnarine, the file was returned “for concerns in the letter to be addressed.”
Attorney Vic Puran had told Stabroek News last Thursday that he had delivered a letter to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, where he highlighted several matters on behalf of his client. Puran said that based on the allegations made, the incidents took place in November while his client was away from last October until mid-December. The attorney said that during this time, his client was on Haj in Saudi Arabia and later received medical attention in England. “If the police were to investigate these things, I doubt whether he could be charged,” Puran had said.
Devastated
Meanwhile, the mother of the first four boys, ages, four, six, eight and ten years old, who were identified as victims of the abuse told Stabroek News yesterday that she was frustrated while awaiting charges to be brought in the case. She said that the police are not giving her much information and are very rude whenever she enquires.
The single parent, who vends for a living, recounted that when she went to the police, she was told that the case file was at the DPP. “When you try to ask anybody they handling you at the station, because nobody ain’t want to give no comment or nobody ain’t want to talk about the matter,” she said.
Although she went with police to the man’s house when he was first arrested, he was later released on $150,000 bail without any word to her. “I had to go give a statement that day and you know they ain’t tell me that they release that man,” she said sadly.
She said it was officials from the CCPA who asked her to bring the children, and informed that they were sexually molested. “We couldn’t start blaming him just like that because at that point, the children didn’t discuss or tell us anything ‘til when we go to the doctor and the doctor confirmed that they were sexual molested and then they started to cry,” she added.
The woman said that in the presence of the police, the children explained what happened to them in a room at the Turkeyen Masjid, where lessons were given to young boys. Based on what the children, said, the woman told this newspaper that they were threatened and in the case of her eldest son, he was reportedly beaten with a bull whip.
“When I found out I was devastated. I nearly collapse,” she said, adding that while there were rumours circulating before, “when you report to certain big ones, they will tell you that they don’t have no proof and that you have to get evidence and all these things.”
The woman said the suspect was a man of great integrity both in Guyana and the Caribbean, and this is what made the accusation so shocking.
Asked if there were warning signs, she responded in the affirmative, recalling that the children sometimes cried because they did not want to go to the Masjid. “I use to beat them to go ’cause I tell them that they mo safe at the Masjid than staying in the house and swimming and so on. I would beat them to go to the Masjid,” she added.
The mother noted that she usually would send the boys home early and from there they would prepare themselves and attend the Masjid, which she also attends.
She said she often advised her children to inform her of anything wrong that has been done to them, however, she believes that the threats they apparently received were too much for them.
The mother also reported that since the incident, she has been receiving threatening phone calls. The woman, who has been a Muslim for 19 years, added that whenever she goes to pray at the Masjid now, everyone keeps their distance and no one says anything to her. Since the bombshell revelations, she said, members of the community have said nothing to her. She explained that in her religion, all concerns must be first taken up with the leaders rather than outsiders.
The woman told this newspaper that although the children are traumatized, if they want to go back to religious activities and places of worship she will allow them. In the meantime, she said, her children are in need of counselling. She pointed out that nothing is wrong with the religion, only that there are some “evil people” in it.
Speaking more about her family life, the woman said that she is separated from the boys’ father, who lives in Suriname. She said that she occasionally hears from him when he calls for her to go and collect money. As far as she knows, he is unaware of what has happened to the children who were all born into the Muslim faith. She said she is not in possession of his number but “I want him to know.”
The abuse allegations first surfaced when the CCPA received an anonymous tip.
Officials began an investigation and four boys between the ages of 4 and 10 were first identified. The police were informed of the situation and after the boys were medically examined, the Muslim scholar, who was employed by the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG), was arrested but released on station bail shortly after. CIOG later said that he had been sent on leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Days later, two more boys were identified as victims but medical examinations confirmed that only one had been penetrated. The other boy, from the beginning, had said that the man often hugged and fondled him but he was never penetrated.
The names of four others were also handed over to officials of the agency. Three of the boys were found in a rural area and doctors confirmed that they had been sexually molested. The fourth boy is yet to be found. Reports are that one of the children had attempted to highlight the situation but was ignored.
