The recovery of the teenage girl who was viciously chopped by an older partner in a mining camp at Big Creek Backdam, North West District (NWD) last May has been a slow one.
The physical reminders of the attack are present—she walks with a limp now and her speech is partly slurred—though she is unable to recollect the episode, which is believed to be as a result of the removal of a part of her brain during emergency surgery at the Georgetown Hospital.
A source close to the case told Stabroek News that following the girl’s discharge from the hospital, where she spent several months recuperating, she was placed in the care of the state because her attacker is still on the run.
According to the source, the girl’s age is uncertain since her birth was never registered. Though her age had originally been given as 16 it is being recorded as 15. It is believed that she could be as young as 13 years in light of her petite frame.
Updating this newspaper on her condition, the source said that the girl “is doing well.” As a result of the May 20, 2012 chopping, the teen had been paralysed on her entire right side. She has since regained the use of her arm and can now bathe and do other things for herself, though she walks with a limp.
Stabroek News was told that her communication skills are now much better than when she was hospitalized, when her speech was so slurred that it was inaudible.
The chopping occurred after the suspect, said to be age 22 at the time, reportedly caught the teen in a compromising position with Junior Joseph, 22, an employee of the dredge operation that he owned. Joseph was chopped to death during the attack, in which his neck was almost severed.
Stabroek News learnt that the suspect first met the teen at a Kayamoo—a barrack-like accommodation for sex workers—where she was employed. He later took her to his mining camp to stay there with him. But the man had suspected that the girl was being unfaithful to him and decided to hatch a plan to catch her in the act.
From all indications, he caught Joseph off guard and began chopping him on his neck as the teen stood helplessly nearby. When Joseph’s neck was almost severed from his body, the man turned his cutlass on the teen.
During the attack, the girl sustained chops to the head, breasts and other parts of the body. Meanwhile, the source said that the girl’s mother could be charged but she cannot be found now. Following the incident, the woman was speaking with social workers but she suddenly stopped her sessions with them, leaving two children younger than her teen daughter behind. Stabroek News was told the two children are also in state care and they interact well with their sister.
The mother, it was explained, can face criminal charges for allowing the teen to be living in a mining camp. The police have also been informed of the matter, this newspaper was told.
The source also explained that it has been found that a lot of mothers are running off and leaving their daughters unprotected. The source added that while it is unclear what is happening with the police investigation of the case, a lot of similar cases “are going nowhere.” The source said that now that the new Sexual Offences Act is in force, there is a backlog of cases and speedier action is needed for those matters involving children.
‘Other girls’
Meanwhile, APNU Region One parliamentarian Richard Allen, who is familiar with the case, said that the instances of young girls being exploited in the North West are too prevalent and action needs to be taken urgently to address the situation.
He told Stabroek News that that the teen grew up in the Big Creek area where there are no educational opportunities for youths. He also pointed out that she was fatherless, making her vulnerable to many ills, including prostitution. “There are a lot of children like that. There are other girls like her. I have not seen any but there are reports from residents,” he said, while adding that many parents enter their daughters into such arrangements because of their financial situation.
Allen told this newspaper of one instance where a mother found it difficult to remove her daughter from such a situation after she had a change of mind. He said that the region lacks social workers and the one probation officer that is available is inadequate.
Visiting mining camps can often be a challenge because most of them are isolated and the poor state of the roads makes access difficult.
Allen said that in light of what happened to the teen, it was expected that the relevant personnel would have visited the camps to ensure that there are no underage girls there. However, he said that this has not been the case as a lot of similar cases still exist as well as teenage pregnancies.
Allen said that sometime last year, he saw the teen’s older brother, who informed him that the suspect was still in the Region One area. From all indications, the brother is afraid to make any attempts to apprehend the man himself.
The parliamentarian expressed surprise at the fact that police have not been able to apprehend the suspect, while noting that he is unsure if residents reported that he was spotted in the region. He said that it could be a case that no one went forward with the information to the police.
Following the attack, Simona Broomes, president of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation, had told this newspaper that this incident should be an eye-opener to all involved. She also called for the issue of trafficking of young girls to be urgently addressed.
