Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall has been granted permission by President Irfaan Ali to proceed on administrative leave in the wake of an allegation that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl.
The President yesterday told Stabroek News that Dharamlall requested leave to facilitate any investigation into the allegation and he agreed to the request. He did not state when the requested leave takes effect. Dharamlall has not made any public statement on the allegation.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the girl who made the allegation is now in the care of the Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services and officers, as of yesterday, were proceeding with a forensic interview.
According to a source, since the child was taken into the state’s care, she has requested not to see her parents but there has been some pressure for the parents to be allowed to be present during the investigation.
The allegation, detailed by the teen, was sent to President Ali and later widely shared on social media, after which sections of civil society began calling for Dharamlall to step down as a minister and Member of Parliament.
Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud in a Facebook post on Saturday said her ministry had taken note of a serious allegation made against a government official by a 16-year-old girl and the matter was being investigated. “All support will be provided to the young lady. Our women and girls must be safe and no one is above the law,” she said.
Meantime, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs Geeta Chandan-Edmond in reaction to the announcement that Dharamlall was proceeding on leave said, “While this must be seen as an important step forward, like all Guyanese we trust that this will result in a full, fair, unbiased and impartial investigation, and that there will be compliance with the rule of law.”
Chandan-Edmond was among the first to call for an investigation into the allegation. “We continue to advocate strongly for the rights of women and children. I will also continue to be an unrelenting advocate for the protection of our indigenous sisters,” she emphasised in her statement.
At the same time, she encouraged citizens to remain steadfast in their commitment to ensure that no one is above the law.
Opposition Member of Parliament Dawn Hastings-Williams also joined in calling for justice for the teen.
In a Facebook live, Hastings-Williams hailed the teen as courageous and called on all women and youth organisations to stand in solidarity with her. She also called on the indigenous leaders, especially female toshaos to condemn the acts at the centre of the allegation.
“She will not be the first or the last but we must stand with her for speaking out… We must give her support in whatever way we can…,” Hastings-Williams stressed.
The matter was also addressed by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on her Facebook page on Saturday. She said that after being made aware of the matter she passed on the information to Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain who made contact with the girl who is a student and “full support” was offered to her. Manickchand said that the girl chose a date on which she would avail herself of the support that was offered and continues to be offered.
“She gave reasons for the date she chose. That date has not yet arrived. The Ministry of Education will offer whatever support is needed/requested, if any at all, and will act only in the best interest of this child and in accordance with her wishes as we are mandated by law to do,” Manickchand said.
She said that on Thursday morning just as she was about to enter a CXC meeting of regional education ministers on exam papers going missing in another jurisdiction, a member of the media sent her screenshots of the girl’s statement.
“That statement that I was only able at that time to quickly browse, contained disturbing allegations of rape, sex assault and abuse of power made by someone who said she was a school girl. No contact information was given to me so I did what we do whenever we receive similar information. I immediately passed the information on to the Chief Education Officer (who has statutory responsibility for learners in the country) with a request that he find the child and offer our full support to her…,” she related.
Manickchand said that she has always treated complaints of rape and sex assault urgently. “Even more so when a child is involved. And I always will. I piloted the Sex Offences Act and when we passed that into law in 2010, as a country we were clear: we want better treatment of complainants and better conviction rates. That hasn’t changed,” she added.
The minister also sounded a caution. “Social media has given everyone a voice,” she noted. “That has its own beauty and value in various struggles. But there are also inherent dangers. Identifying children should never be a resort regardless of how much more attractive our statements/position/advocacy will be. Denigrating designated bodies who are mandated (statutorily or otherwise) to help must never be easily done or the result could end up leaving the victim alone without that help. And most dangerous of all is that children or women, who are victims looking on and who want to come forward, who desperately need help could decide not to avail themselves of same for fear of the exposure and out of mistrust carelessly promoted for the bodies/institutions designated to help. Use your pages consciously”, the minister stated.
