A breach of the rights of a child—we suppose

Apr 09, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Guyana is far from being dubbed the murder capital of the Caribbean but this country has more than its fair share of murders these past few weeks. Indeed, the year began with some horrific murders by a group of drug crazed young men.
What made this so shocking was that these were men from the community in which the victims lived. And these drug crazed young men were merely on a robbery spree. Then there were the murders in the hinterland. Many of these stemmed from alcohol but there were some that defied logic.
In the North West District two men got into an altercation because the victim’s son was said to be creating some problem for a resident. The victim reportedly retaliated with bow and arrow. He shot at his attacker and ended up being killed by his spent arrow.
But the most shocking involved two very young girls. They are accused of killing their father. This is not the first time that children have been known to kill their parents. What broke the mould in Guyana is the fact that one of the accused is a mere 12 years old.
To see such a young child climbing the court steps handcuffed to her older sister was a sight that one should never forget. We have had children paraded before the courts but these were vagrants, many of them arrested for vagrancy. There were also those children who would have pilfered things perhaps to satisfy their hunger. However, we have never had so young a person accused of murder.
We would have expected this child to be separated from the adults although they were all charged jointly. She should have been taken to court separately. But should she have been charged? The laws suggest that a child so young cannot be responsible for her actions. If indeed that is the law then why was she paraded before the court?
Some argue that the situation would be resolved by the end of the trial but that cannot be good enough. For one, the child should be in school. There is a law governing compulsory education. That law states that every child in Guyana up to the age of sixteen should be in school.
In cases where there are breaches, the law stipulates that the parents could be prosecuted. In this case the child is being denied her education according to law and no one is being held accountable. Prior to her court appearance she would have been detained in adult conditions. That, too, should not have been done.
Strange as this may seem, one does not readily kill one’s parents so for this to happen something horrible had to transpire between parent and the children. There is a suggestion that there was some sexual activity between them. If the 12 year old was the victim of sexual assault then her state of mind would have been extremely disturbed.
We will refrain from further comments in this area because of the sub judice clause in the matter. We expect that the child would be in the juvenile holding centre in Sophia but there is still the matter of her being led into court in handcuffs.
And we come to the question of rape. The society knows that most of the rapes are perpetrated by people either related to or close and known to the victim. If indeed sexual activity was involved here then the investigators would have needed to be advised before they could lay the charges of murder.
We hear that one of the accused was actually raped and that her father accepted a million-dollar compensation but that the victim, although legally an adult, did not share in the compensation. Could this have fuelled something ugly? Perhaps.

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A breach of the rights of a child—we suppose

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