Rapist sent to prison for 20 years, still faces murder charge

Nov 20, 2019 News

A fisherman who was yesterday found guilty of raping a woman who was washing off her shoe along the seaside has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Jaipaul Hitlall

Jaipaul Hitlall, 44, formerly of Sea View Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara (WCD) was charged with the December 29, 2016 rape of a woman who was at the time in her mid 20s. The act occurred at Cornelia Ida, WCD.
Hitlall, who had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, had been on trial before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall and a jury at the Sexual Offences Court in Demerara. The jury, after deliberations, returned a guilty verdict in a proportion of 10-2. Hitlall was represented by Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay, while the case for the State was presented by Prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Tuanna Hardy.
Kaieteur News understands that on the day in question, the woman was on her way home when she stepped in dog faeces. She then ventured out to the sea walls along Cornelia Ida to wash off her shoes when Hitlall attacked her from behind and dragged her into the waters. At the time, the waters were ankle high. They then became involved in an altercation during which she stabbed Hitlall to the shoulder and temple with a pocket knife she was carrying.
But Hitlall overpowered her and had sex with her right there before dragging her by her hair to shore. There, he threw her into a boat and had sex with her again before recognizing that he knew her. He then begged her not to tell anyone about what transpired; the woman promised to do so. Hitlall followed her to the roadside from where she made her way home. The woman filed a report with the police the next day.
Based on reports, Hitlall is on remand for the October 2, 2016 murder of 60-year-old Bibi Kaneece, who is believed to have been raped before she was killed. The charge against him alleges that he murdered the woman at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, during the course of a rape.
Police in a release had said that at the time Hitlall was unemployed and had confessed to the crime.
According to reports, Kaneece was believed to be mentally ill. She was found dead in her home in a hammock with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Investigators believed that the woman might have been raped before she was killed since her skirt was pulled up to her chest and she was without underwear. Her lifeless body was discovered by her son who went to the house to drop off food.

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