Hours after being arrested by law enforcement officers at the Brickdam Police Station in a rape investigation, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall was last night released on $1m bail.
He is to return to the station at 8 am today.
Dharamlall was last evening arrested by police after presenting himself at the Brickdam Police Station in relation to rape allegations made by a 16-year-old girl.
At approximately 6.30 pm yesterday, he surrendered himself in the company of his attorney Nigel Hughes and remained at the Brickdam Station until 10.15 pm.
A brief statement issued by the police following his arrest said that the Minister was arrested after being told of the allegation made against him.
When contacted by Stabroek News last night, Hughes said that he was negotiating bail on behalf of his client. Bail was later granted.
Asked if charges are pending, Hughes told Stabroek News that charges were not indicated by the police and he is expected to return to the police station today at 8 am. Dharamlall, Hughes said, denied the allegations when they were put to him and remained in silence during the interrogation.
Dharamlall has not made any public statement on the allegation.
His arrest came a day after President Irfaan Ali approved his request to proceed on administrative leave paving the way for a probe.
Yesterday morning, Dharamlall through his attorney said he is prepared to “assist in a full investigation” of misconduct allegations against him.
The allegations which first surfaced on social media last week attracted the attention of the Guyana Police Force and the Child Care and Protection Agency.
Hughes, yesterday said his firm, Hughes, Field and Stoby has been retained to represent and protect the interests of Dharamlall.
Stating that his client remains willing and disposed to assist in a full investigation of the matter, Hughes said all the allegations are denied.
“In the interest of a fair investigation and the necessity to protect the interests of all parties concerned, we urge that speculation, wild accusations, premature judgements and unsupported conclusions be avoided,” the law firm said in the statement.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the complainant is now in the care of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) of the Ministry of Human Services and officers and a forensic interview was conducted with her.
According to a source, since the child was taken into the state’s care, she had requested not to see her parents but there has been some pressure for the parents to be allowed to be present during the investigation.
Interview room
Stabroek News understands that the 16-year-old participated in a forensic interview in one of the city’s Child Advocacy centres, better known as a one-stop centre. All the relevant personnel critical to the investigation and the child’s wellbeing were also present. The personnel, Stabroek News understands, were not present in the interview room during the interview but were in another room from which they viewed and or listened as the interview unfolded via a live video and or audio feed. The interview was conducted by professionals from a non-governmental organisation.
It is understood that the child’s father was also outside the interview room. The police were also present during the interview and were expected to compile their own report. “The child care does not have a give a report to the police, they are there and they do their report. And while they are not in the room with the child they can observe from outside and stop the interviewer at any time and request that a question is asked or that the child repeats a statement,” a source told this newspaper.
Once the allegation is made, the police are expected to take the accused person into custody and put the said allegation to him, following which, a report is compiled and forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
“They should have arrested him as early as yesterday morning and they could keep him up to 72 hours. If it was the normal man in the street he would have been arrested,” a source said.
A one-stop centre, a number of which are located around the country, is geared towards accelerating the response to reports of child abuse with representatives from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), law enforcement and the CC&PA, as well as prosecution and health services officials. Stabroek News understands that CC&PA will generate its own report which it will forward to the Minister of Ministry of Human Services & Social Protection, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, as she had ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
In the meantime, the child remains in state care and all necessary assistance will be given to her. “The child is very intelligent and she has a bright future ahead of her and that is of paramount importance. All efforts must be made to protect this child but with all the social media posts and in some cases the child being identified damage has already been done and now this has to be corrected,” a source said.
It is understood that following the allegations being made public, officers from Child Care sought the child out and removed her from where she was and took her into their care. Under the Protection of Children Act, a child can be removed from their environment without a court order once it is determined that they are in some form of danger.
Avoidance of doubt
“For the avoidance of doubt, where the Director or social worker determines that it is in the best interest of the child to be removed from a particular environment, the Director or social worker shall so remove the child and shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, make an application to the Court seeking direction for the child’s care and placement,” the Act stipulates.
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.
The Minister of Human Services and Social Security 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.
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.
