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Rupununi regional official accused of sleeping with underage teen

Jun 24, 2023 News

…official refutes allegations

Kaieteur News – A District Development Officer (DDO) in charge of a central Rupununi village, Region Nine has denied rape allegations levelled against him by residents of the border-region.

Reports are that at daybreak on Wednesday morning, the official, who only assumed his current portfolio in the region on Monday, was found in the company of a teenager at the Regional Guest house at Lethem. A security guard on duty reportedly raised an alarm after the child’s family was frantically searching for her late on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

The child was seen emerging from the man’s room, a resident related. The official, in a Facebook post refuted the allegations. “I haven’t known anybody in here in this village!!!!I haven’t known this individual I am accused of !!!!”.

The situation took a twist on Wednesday evening when the child and her mother appeared on social media platform Facebook in separate videos and refuted reports which circulated earlier that the teen was raped.

The child’s mother, who appeared to be reading from a script, related that the reports are “untrue” and that her daughter left home in the company of her friends to socialise on Tuesday night. While squinting her eyes, the woman said that around 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, her daughter indeed stopped at the guest house but that the visit was to take a “rest.” The videos were deleted by Thursday morning.

The stories told by the mother and victim were met with multiple comments from the public as many on social media noted that the duo was reading from scripts.

Calls to the number provided for the DDO official on Wednesday went unanswered. A resident of the town noted that the official was called into the Lethem Police Station on Thursday. It is unclear if he was questioned in relation to the incident.

In recent days, allegations of sexual grooming of Indigenous girls have been a hot topic, following the arrest of Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall, who is accused of raping a teenage girl.

Several women have since come forward detailing their experiences with sexual predators, including officials who hold high office.

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