A 20-year-old man who allegedly had carnal knowledge of an 11-year-old girl was granted bail when he appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court last Thursday.

Parsram Maniram called ‘Avo’, a cane-cutter and fisherman of 58 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo was not required to plead to two counts of having carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 15 years. He was granted bail in the sum of $250,000 by Magistrate Fazil Azeez.

It is alleged that on July 1 at Zeelugt, Maniram had carnal knowledge of the minor and it is also alleged that between June 1 and June 30, he had carnal knowledge of the girl.

Attorney-at-law Basil Williams entered an appearance for the accused. In his submissions, he stated that Maniram had no antecedents and was a fisherman and cane-cutter and lived with his parents. He applied for bail.

Prosecutor Sherwin Matthews, however, objected to bail being granted citing the seriousness and prevalence of the offence. He stated that the accused also worked at sea and might not return for the date fixed for the trial.

After listening to the arguments, the magistrate granted bail and ordered Maniram to return to court on November 3 at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.