A Berbice mother of five, who is said to be an alcoholic, was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with willfully neglecting her two-year-old daughter who was reportedly sexually assaulted.
The Corriverton woman, 38, was not required to plead to the charge of willful neglect of a child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to her health. The woman appeared at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Rabindranath Singh. She was remanded to prison with her next court date set for June 27.
Prior to her matter being called, the woman sat lost in thought, and as police ranks spoke with her, she took minutes to respond.
A police source told Stabroek News that the woman is a known alcoholic. The source said on Sunday, the woman was on a drinking spree and returned home at around 8:30pm and went to bed with her children. However, at around 1:30am the following morning, she discovered her two-year-old daughter missing from the bed. Upon checking, the child was found in front of the house bleeding heavily from the vagina.
A report was made to the Springlands Police Station and the child was escorted to the hospital and admitted. She remains hospitalised.
Stabroek News was told that a male person was held in connection with the molestation but he was place on $100,000 bail on Tuesday. According to the police source, investigations have revealed that another person may have had an interaction with the child on the day in question.
“We are still investigating but there was not enough substantial evidence to hold the man and 72 hours has passed,” the source said. According to the officer, the file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
‘B’ Division Commander Ian Amsterdam told Stabroek News that the Division is paying special attention to the case and is working closely with the Child Care and Protection Agency to ensure that the right person is held accountable and face charges for the act committed.
