Members of Red Thread, in collaboration with other grassroots women, recently protested the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) decision in the rape allegation against former minister Nigel Dharamlall and demanded justice for the complainant who is a minor. The protestors, numbering about ten, assembled in front of State House, Main Street, Georgetown holding placards that called for the protection of children and public disclosure on the nature of the allegations against Dharamlall.
Laura George, a member of Red Thread and who is also Rights Coordinator of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), told Stabroek News that her objective was to raise awareness and advocate for justice for all of Guyana’s children, as well as indigenous peoples. George described the DPP’s decision as a “poor one” since the allegation was made by a child, who was violated to the extreme, but who will now have to face society with her own awareness that the system ostensibly designed to protect children like her failed. George posited that such things should not be allowed to happen to children and that the protests will continue until justice is restored.
Danuta Radzik said her presence on the picket line was not only because children of this country need to be protected, but about the harassment of the child and denial of access to a lawyer. Radzik said the child was in “restricted custody” since she had no access to anyone beyond the state authority and agencies. Stressing that that was not protective custody, Radzik explained that what ought to have happened was Dharamlall should have been arrested, charged and taken before the court which would have been expected to start proceedings into the allegations just as in any other sexual offences matter.
Radzik further clarified that the civil society group was demanding to know what the minister’s charges were since neither the police report nor the DPP provided the details of the allegations made. “We are just aware about the station bail he was placed on while the matter was investigated, but we would like the case to go to court…, What happened is not the procedure for a sexual offence allegation made against someone,” she said.
Radzik contended that Red Thread will continue to demand justice for the child, adding that there was no expression of sympathy or remorse by the President in keeping with the trauma of the child’s allegation against Dharamlall.
The protest started after lunch and ended about 1:56 pm. It was the third protest organized by the group into the Dharamlall sexual assault allegation. The women said that they are determined to see through their protest until the President listens to them.
