The 13-year-old girl who was arrested for wandering and held in the Bartica lock-ups for five days is now back home and will be undergoing six months counselling.
The girl’s mother said two workers from the Child Protection Agency are in Bartica and her daughter’s counselling will begin today. The woman said she was ecstatic to have her daughter home. Child advocates have said that the girl should never have been kept in the Bartica lock-ups.
The girl’s mother had said her daughter had been raped by a man in his twenties since she was twelve. The mother had said the police failed to do anything about the situation despite several attempts to have him arrested. She said the young man had asked the police to give him a “chance.” She added that the young man and her daughter were scolded and no arrest was made.
The mother said after the police gave the man a chance, he would sneak her daughter out of the house when she was not at home. The woman said on one occasion he took her away for twelve days. She said the situation finally boiled over and both her daughter and the man were charged.
It is unclear what the man was charged for and according to the girl’s mother he was released on $10,000 bail. Child advocates say he should have been charged with statutory rape.
