Taxi driver Feroze Shakeer was on Friday sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl.
Having regard to the seriousness of the offence, the psychological trauma by which the now 20-year-old survivor is still plagued and her tender age at the time she was violated, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry said she found a sentence of 16 years to be appropriate.
The Judge said she also particularly considered the manner in which the offence was committed on the then young child, while noting that despite the verdict of his peers, the convict remained unremorseful, taking no responsibility for what he had done.
Last month, a jury unanimously convicted Shakeer of the charge of rape of a child under 16 years. The particulars of the charge stated that on December 3, 2015, he sexually penetrated the 12-year-old.
The State’s case was that the offender on the day in question was transporting several schoolchildren. But the court had heard that while he dropped one of the children off at her home, he drove the others to a secluded location where he then raped the complainant.
When given a chance to speak yesterday, Shakeer said that he had nothing to say.
His attorney George Thomas, however, submitted on his behalf that the father of two was the sole breadwinner of his household and that at 36 years old, still has potential for rehabilitation.
Counsel also asked the Court to consider his client’s previously unblemished record.
Notwithstanding the factors advanced in mitigation, however, Thomas said he appreciated the gravity of the offence committed by his client, adding that he would understandably have to face a sentence that reflects the gravity of what he did.
On that point, Thomas said that he was relying on the court’s wisdom in sentencing.
State counsel Caressa Henry, who also called for a sentence reflective of the gravity of the offence, said that a strong message of deterrence needed to be sent to potential offenders.
Recalling the facts presented during the trial, Henry said that regard needed to be had not only to the tender age of the child at the time, but the specific circumstances under which she was assaulted.
The prosecutor then referenced the child being taken to a remote location where her rapist forced alcohol down her throat before sodomising her after she had “passed out.”
“You took her innocence away,” Henry told the convict.
An impact statement read by the survivor’s therapist detailed her constant battle with suicidal thoughts, self-harm and flashbacks from which the court heard she still wakes from her sleep screaming.
“I cried every day,” the court heard from the statement, which detailed the then young girl’s thoughts of running away, the “terrible” anger issues she has developed over the years and her distrust of men in particular.
“You took my joy away,” the young woman is quoted in her impact statement as saying.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Meenawattie Rajkumar said her evaluation of the survivor revealed that her psychological trauma has not been fully cured and she still suffers from anxiety, mild depression and mood disturbances.
She has recommended further psychiatric intervention for the young woman.
Meanwhile, the psychiatrist said that she found no signs of perceptual disturbances suggestive of psychosis when she evaluated the convict, but noted that as a personality trait “manipulation stands out.”
Apart from the sentence Shakeer has to serve, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry also ordered that the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security provide the convict with counselling and vocational training to aid his eventual release from prison.
The trial proceedings were held in-camera at the Sexual Offences Court of the High Court in Demerara.
