A woman accused of restraining a teenaged girl whom she then allegedly allowed to be raped by a relative, was yesterday acquitted by a jury in the High Court at Suddie.
Sherryann Bashier was on trial before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry for the charge of rape of a child under 16 years, which alleged that in November of 2015 she caused the 15-year-old to engage in sexual penetration with a third party.
Following deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict, finding Bashier not guilty of the charge levelled against her.
According to the case for the State presented by Prosecutor Tiffini Lyken, the virtual complainant (VC) was in the company of Bashier and the man in question after viewing a Diwali light-up back in 2015.
The court had heard during the trial that as they all made their way to their respective homes, the teen realized that Bashier was missing and enquired of her from the man who noted that his relative had gone into a house they were standing in front of.
The court had heard that the VC and the man then entered the house where Bashier was seen sitting in a chair, after which the man switched off the lights.
The court then heard from the complainant that the man gave her something to drink from a bottle which shortly after caused her to fall to the ground with a “numb” feeling.
The court was then told that Bashier—the accused—then held on to the teenager’s hand while the man got undressed and thereafter raped her.
The complainant told the court that as the man was raping her, Bashier continued to hold her hands down even as she screamed for the man to stop.
The assault is alleged to have occurred at Charity where, according to the facts of the prosecution, a report was made to the Police Station there where another of the man’s aunts worked as a cop.
Following no progress in the complaint, the matter was eventually reported to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Head-quarters Eve Leary.
It would be almost two years later—May 29th, 2017—before Bashier was arrested.
The trial-proceedings in the matter were held in-camera at the Sexual Offences Court of the High Court.
