Two in custody as police probe alleged rape of Berbice teens

Berbice police have taken two suspects into custody as they continue to probe the alleged drugging and rape of two teenagers on Tuesday last.

Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Police Force, Shivpersaud Bacchus yesterday confirmed that the two men were taken into custody and were being questioned as the investigation is very much still active.

Meanwhile, a source told this newspaper that the men have maintained their innocence claiming that they met the teenagers on the road in a drunken state and offered assistance.

According to the source, police received information, that the two teenage girls took a “half bottle rum” to school. The source said a teacher from the school noticed the teenagers acting in a strange manner and informed the headmaster who then gave both students letters and asked them to return with their parents.

However, investigators have since revealed that the teens proceeded home, where they changed from their uniforms to casual clothing and headed out to a nearby rum shop where they reportedly proceeded to imbibe. The source told Stabroek News that the girls reportedly visited several rum shops in the area. The source said, it was reported that at one rum shop the girls met two men who bought them several beers.

However, the teens then left that shop and were traversing the road when they met the two men who have since been placed into custody. The source noted that the men are claiming, that the girls were “vomiting” and they offered assistance. The source explained that the men said the teenagers asked if the suspects could take them to their houses where they could clean up. However, at one of the suspects’ house, the teenagers reportedly fell asleep in a hammock. The teen then left the suspect’s house early last Wednesday morning without informing anyone. The source also added, that the suspect’s mother questioned him and asked who the girls were, and also attempted to question the girls about where they resided.

The source also told this newspaper, that the teens were taken to the hospital for a medical examination on Wednesday. The source said the examination revealed that both teens were sexually active. The source said that according to the report there was no sign of sexual intercourse for the 24 hours prior to their visit to the hospital.

The Police are continuing the investigation.

The mother of one of the girls, 14,  is demanding justice for her daughter. The woman told Stabroek News that her daughter claimed that she and her friend were walking home from school when two young men, said to be in their twenties, offered them a drop in their car. “Them girls like them been frighten to come home because wah happen at school. Them take them girls a rum shop and give them beers and me daughter say them promise fa put them in taxi,” she said. “… But them give them the tablets and then take them to them house. Them separate them and take them different house,” the woman said she was told by her daughter.

The woman had reported the matter to the Number 51 Police Station and the Springlands Police Station.