Police are preparing to complete their investigation of the alleged rape of a 16-year-old boy at a city police outpost, according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, who says the teen has been unable to identify the alleged perpetrators and there are no witnesses.
The boy, who climbed on to the roofs of two buildings on Robb Street on Thursday and seemed to be considering jumping before he was taken into custody. He subsequently was made to participate in an identification parade even though a senior official in the Human Services Ministry
said that he should have undergone a psychiatric evaluation in light of his earlier actions.
The police force launched a criminal investigation after the boy alleged that he was sexually assaulted by three police officers Sunday night inside of the Stabroek Market Police Outpost. The ranks were placed under close arrest based on the boy’s accusations, which have intensified public criticism of the force as it came in wake of another alleged police rape of a detainee.
“The police are wrapping up their investigations,” Persaud stated yesterday, indicating that accused has denied the allegation. He said the police had conducted an identification parade and the teen was unable to identify his alleged perpetrators.
He stated that there are no witnesses in the matter.
Meanwhile, a senior official yesterday said that the Human Services Ministry was shocked that the boy was not sent for a psychiatric evaluation after he scaled the roofs of the two buildings on Robb Street, which included the Stabroek News building, and insisted that he had been sexually assaulted by the police.
The boy had clambered on to the roofs to evade an abusive relative who claimed he fabricated the allegations.
The teen’s actions caused hundreds of people to swarm the street and they screamed at him not to jump.
“It is obvious he is a troubled child and he should have been sent for psychiatric evaluation to determine what would be his mental state,” the Human Services official said.
However, he added that as long as the police had taken control over the matter, the ministry was unable to do anything except lending support to the minor. He was also skeptical about why the boy was not taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corpora-tion for an evaluation instead of being taken in custody.
The boy was eventually released from police custody and placed in the care of a relative. However, he was later seen wandering the streets by Thursday evening.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that the new allegation is “alarming” as it comes at a time when the police force is struggling to regain public confidence and it urged the force to pay closer attention to its recruitment procedures and screening practices when recruiting civilians into its ranks “so as to ensure that perverts are not allowed entry into the organization.”
Nearly three weeks ago, three ranks at the Timehri Police Station were accused of allegedly raping 23-year-old Colwyn Harding by pushing a condom covered baton into his anus. An official investigation was ordered into the case.
