Needed; guidelines for reporting abuse.

Mar 13, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,

On his Facebook page of March 9, Malcolm Harripaul made the following post at 7:06PM; “WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? on seeing a big man fondle a young lady’s breast.
One of Puran Bros trucks was turning into Bella Dam from the public road. There was a girl crossing the bridge. The driver forced her to the edge. She had to stop. He leaned out of the truck and fondled her breasts as he passed. I saw this sexual assault. The driver is also a Puran employee known as “Blackboy” and he lives in Bella Dam.
“I remonstrated with him. And off course coming from a Billionaire family he issued threats to me. I really felt like pulling him out and administering the 100 lashes that he deserves.”
Like Malcolm, many Guyanese witness such abuse and harassment but are at a loss as to what should be done. And not many would confront the abuser as Malcolm did for fear of being subjected to the similar threats or worse. So what should be done?
One suggestion is that the witness should take a photo or better yet a video of the incident and then report to the police with photo/video as evidence. But what if that person is fearful of the perpetrator and/or if the police do not take him/her seriously? After all, this does happen often enough. Perhaps such individuals can go to the media instead? But, can a witness be charged by the police for not going first to them?
So The Caribbean Voice strongly urges the relevant ministry and government agencies to publicize guidelines for the public as to what actions victims and witnesses should take in situations like this.
Meanwhile Malcolm should be commended for bringing this incident to the public notice. We hope others will follow his example. As well we hope the police can act on this info so the victim can get justice and the perpetrator reaps the consequences of the law for his abhorrent action.

Sincerely
The Caribbean Voice

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News