Indigenous girl who accused Govt. Minister of raping her agrees to meet with Education Minister

Jun 18, 2023 News

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…Child Protection Agency to launch probe

Kaieteur News – Amidst rape allegations against a male government minister by a 16-year-old Indigenous girl, two female ministers have issued statements underscoring the seriousness of the allegations while indicating that a thorough investigation will be conducted.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, in a statement on Saturday said that allegations of rape, sexual assault and gender-based violence are not to be made lightly and must always be taken seriously.

“I begin by believing complainants, always, every time. Because the statistics are clear. Despite the myths, victims of rape and sexual assault do not lie about their experiences any more than victims of any other crime,” Minister Manickchand said noting that the teen has accepted support from the Ministry of Education and will attend a meeting soon.

This publication had reported that in a letter to President Irfaan Ali, the teen girl shared gruesome details about how she was allegedly groomed and later raped by the minister. In her letter, she pleaded with President Ali, the Minister of Education, and relevant authorities to look into the matter.

According to the letter seen by this publication, the girl first met the minister at an event last year, when she was 15-years-old. She said she was raped three months after meeting the minister and at that time, she was 16-years-old. She disclosed in the letter that after continuously harassing her to meet up with him, she eventually agreed to meet the minister. The teen said this is when the minister raped her, sodomized her before handing her a sum of money.  Notably, Kaieteur News was reliably informed that this is not the first time such an allegation was made against the minister in question.

Minister Manickchand in her statement emphasised that when the complainant is a child, the complaint must take on even more urgent dimensions.

She assured that she has always treated complaints of rape and sexual assault with the urgency it deserves. The minister reminded that she was the one who piloted the Sexual Offences Act and when it was passed into law in 2010, it was made clear that “we want better treatment of complainants and better conviction rates. That hasn’t changed.”

The Education Minister explained that someone in the media sent her a screenshot of the rape allegation that was made against her colleague.

“I was only able at that time to quickly browse [the screenshots]…[They] contained disturbing allegations of rape, sexual 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.”

The minister continued: “I am told and I believe that the CEO made contact with the school named in the statement and through said school made contact with the student. Full support was offered to her and she chose a date on which she would avail herself of the support that was and continues to be offered. She gave reasons for the date she chose. That date has not yet arrived.”

Minister Manickchand vowed that her ministry will offer whatever support is needed or requested “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.”

Moreover, the minister reminded, “Social media has given everyone a voice. 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 that 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.”

For her part, Minister of Human Services and Social Protection, Dr. Vindhya Persaud said that the Child Care and Protection Agency is carrying out a full investigation into the allegation made against the male minister while reminding that no one is above the law.

“The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has taken note of the serious allegations made against a Minister by a 16-year-old girl. Our women and girls must be safe and no one is above the law.”

PRESIDENT ALI

In an invited comment, President Ali told the News Room that did had not received a formal or official complaint but noted that he saw social media posts on the allegations.

News Room reported that the President emphasised that once a report is made “it will be thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities.” Notably, it was highlighted that President Ali also reiterated that he has “no tolerance for such behaviour and anyone found guilty of such allegations will be held accountable.”

“As a government, we are committed to having any facts fully investigated as we hold dearly our girls and women in every community. And we will continue to do everything to ensure their safety and well-being,” President Ali told the News Room.

Similarly, on the sidelines of an event on Friday evening, President Ali told Kaieteur News that his government will not tolerate such acts and that he has already informed the police that any such report must be thoroughly and comprehensively investigated.

Asked whether the matter was discussed with the government minister, President Ali responded, “Of course, I reached out to the Minister and he denied any wrongdoing and as I said the allegations are allegations, we have to deal with statement of facts and once any facts is being presented the authorities have to do their investigation.”

The Head-of-State assured that “no one will be held unaccountable.” “So as I said one of the greatest priorities in this government is our girls and women. We will not tolerate anything that will hinder that. So any fact and report I… have already told the police any report must be thoroughly and comprehensively investigated,” President Ali assured.

OTHER STATEMENTS

Meanwhile, in light of the allegations against the government minister, Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton in a statement Friday evening highlighted the serious nature of the allegations and called on President Irfaan Ali to remove the minister from office, so that an investigation into the allegation can be conducted.

Similarly, Opposition Member of Parliament, Geeta Chandan-Edmond in a statement said, “I am appalled by allegations of sexual exploitation made against the minister…Henceforth, I shall proceed to get further information to complete a thorough  legal assessment of the facts on this odious allegation.”

On Saturday, the National Congress of Women (NCW) joined the call for an impartial investigation into allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct leveled against the minister. They said, “Over the years, our children, youths and women have suffered abuse in every form resulting in several suicides and dysfunctional citizens. Today we ask all citizens to join the movement to protect our children, youth and women.”

“When will the Indigenous society say enough is enough. No money can clear her mind of what actually took place. Your daughter, our daughter, is affected for life. Let us get this one right,” the statement said as calls mounted for the minister to step down from his ministerial position to allow a comprehensive investigation into the allegations made against him.

Additionally, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in a statement on Saturday called for justice and an investigation into allegation of sexual grooming, rape, sodomy and forced sexual violation by the minister.

“The story of rape is about raw, naked power domination, exploitation, and sexual depravity.  Society should not sit quietly and accept the teen’s very articulate claim being swept aside without a thorough and independent investigation of the allegations made. To do otherwise would be a failure on behalf of this government, but most significantly a failure of society,” the GTUC said.

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• Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Education, Minister of Human Services and Social Protection, Priya Manickchand, statement

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