Taxi driver Sahadeo Pooran, called “Omesh,” now awaits sentencing after being found guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl back in 2019.
After hours of deliberations, a jury yesterday afternoon unanimously convicted Pooran of the September 27th, 2019 charge of rape of a child under the age of 16.
Justice Jo-Ann Barlow has, however, deferred sentencing until March 24th to facilitate the presentation of a probation report and victim impact statement.
The prosecution’s facts are that on the day in question the child was on her way to get a taxi which usually takes persons out of her community to a main road from where they would then be able to access minibuses.
As the child made her way to the car turnpike that morning, the court had heard that Pooran stopped his car and offered her a lift free of cost.
She went into the front seat and he subsequently picked up two other passengers, but after dropping them off at their destinations, he took the 12-year-old to a house that was unknown to her.
The court then heard that the now 32-year-old Pooran had held the girl by her hands and forced her into the house.
The child said she tried to loosen Porran’s grips but couldn’t and he succeeded in locking her in the house, before stating that he needed “to go pick up someone and drop them somewhere.”
The child told the court that after Pooran left the house, she tried to escape, but the door and even the windows were all tightly shut. The windows had wooden bars on them.
The young girl told the court that Pooran returned to the house about an hour after and raped her.
The court then heard that after the assault Pooran instructed the child that when she arrives at school she is to tell her teacher that she was involved in an accident.
It was related to the court that the child went back onto the road where she caught a bus. Upon arrival at school, repeated the lie about the accident.
It was further related that the child’s mother subsequently visited the school as she disbelieved the story about the accident and it was at that point that the child revealed what had really transpired.
The state’s case was led by prosecutor Nafeeza Baig, in association with Sarah Martin.
Meanwhile, Pooran was represented by attorney Euclin Gomes.
