A pump attendant, who was on trial in the High Court for the rape of an 11-year-old girl nearly three years ago, was freed yesterday after a jury found him not guilty.
Seeraj Veerasammy was before Justice Roxanne George for the March 18, 2005 rape of the girl which was alleged to have taken place at the service station just before the Phagwah Day holiday. Veerasammy was on duty at the time and the girl was in the company of friends playing Phagwah with him.
During the week-long trial, the virtual complainant who is now 14 took the stand and testified that Veerasammy committed the act in the bathroom of the service station. In her evidence-in-chief, the teen said she had gone to the bathroom to tidy up with another female friend when the accused entered and locked the door. She recalled that he opened the door and her friend ran out and he locked it again with her inside. She described the bathroom as a little enclosed area without windows.
The girl told the jury that Veerasammy started kissing her and he held her hands before pulling down her underwear and committing the act. The assault lasted for about 15 minutes, according to her, and when it was over, she went back to her school, which was right next door to the service station. She later told her story to the friend who had fled the bathroom and it was relayed to her class teacher.
When the teacher questioned her, she revealed what happened and the school principal was then informed. Her mother was then called to the school and after learning what happened she reported the matter to the police.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Paul Fung-A-Fat the girl admitted that she told police that another person had raped her. She said too that she had told police that Veerasammy had only kissed her. The young woman told Fung-A-Fat that neither her underwear nor her tights was torn and that she could have shouted for help but she did not.
When called upon to lead a defence Veerasammy said he had only kissed the girl on the day in question and that he did not commit the act of rape. Fung-A-Fat pointed to the girl’s credibility to build his defence while maintaining his client’s innocence.
