Sherwin Apple, one of the two suspects in a rape of a Linden teen that was recorded and circulated on WhatsApp, was yesterday found dead at the Kitty seawall, where he is believed to have ended his own life, while the suspected victim has denied being the person seen in the video.
Apple, 41, a clothing vendor of William Street, Kitty, Georgetown and Silver Town Linden, was found yesterday morning lying face down in the mud at the Kitty seawall near Vlissengen Road.
According to the police, the discovery was made around 9.25 yesterday morning. Apple was found with blood running from his nostrils. No marks of violence were seen on the visible parts of his body, police said.
Following the discovery, Apple was positively identified by Selwyn Apple, a brother, and he was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
His body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Home.
The deceased was one of two persons who were wanted by the police for questioning about the alleged rape after the circulation of a video of the assault was brought to the attention of the Guyana Police Force and the Childcare and Protection Agency. Police confirmed that the second suspect was taken into custody last evening.
Yesterday, Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency Ann Greene said the agency is continuing an investigation into the matter through its officers in Linden.
Sources have told this newspaper that the teen girl, who is the suspected victim of the assault, has denied she was the person featured in the video. Commander of ‘E’ Division (Linden/ Kwakwani) Anthony Vanderhyden, in a telephone interview, confirmed that the suspected victim indicated to investigators that she was not the person in the video.
He explained that she was questioned yesterday morning in the presence of her mother and she denied being the victim seen in the video. He also stated that the mother also denied her daughter’s involvement in the video.
This newspaper was also told that the mother of the girl is claiming that her daughter is 18-years-old although she is yet to produce a birth certificate to support this claim.
The deceased Apple, Stabroek News was told, was known to police and had faced a charge of a similar nature in court.