Nearly a month after it was alleged that a mentally challenged teenager was raped by a driver, the file was sitting at the Fort Wellington Police Station and had not been sent to the DPP’s Chambers as previously asserted.
Yesterday, the mother of the mentally challenged teenager was disappointed at this development.
On January 7, the driver was arrested after he allegedly took the 18-year-old to his home and committed the act.
After the man was released from the lock-ups, the mother went to the police station the following week and inquired when he would be charged. She was told that “they have to get all the statements and then they would send the file to the DPP.”
She also learnt that he was placed on $72,000 bail and would have to report to the station on a daily basis.
A police source had subsequently told this newspaper that they could not proceed with charges because the teenager could not give a proper statement.
He had said the file had been sent to the DPP for advice. But yesterday an official from the DPP’s office told this newspaper that no file was sent. The DPP’s Chambers has since requested the file from the Fort Wellington Police Station.
The teen had left home that day without her mother’s knowledge. The driver reportedly stopped to purchase gas at a gas station and a worker saw when the driver held her hand and put her in the minibus.
The mother lamented that it was “one month already and the police still cannot get all the statements.” She believes that they did not make an effort to take a statement from the gas station worker although they promised to go and he has since left the job.
She feels that the investigation is at a standstill and said it seems as though “they push the file in a corner and forget about it.”
Members of the Disabled Persons Network (DPN) of Seafield, West Coast Berbice have joined with the mother of the teen in seeking justice.
They are calling on the relevant authorities to “take serious action” so that such acts can be prevented.
