THE local and overseas chapters of the New Jersey Arya Samaj Humanitarian Mission (NJASHM) recently visited the traumatized minor who was raped aback of her home in Betsy Ground, East Canje, Berbice on December 23 last, and presented her a life-size bear along with some clothing.
The gifts were, however, handed over to the nurses of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the New Amsterdam Hospital, Nurse O. Kendall, and Nurse Alicia Trellis. 
On December 23, 2011, the child was rushed to the health institution after it was discovered she had been sexually assaulted by an unknown perpetrator in a clump of bushes about 150 feet from her home. She underwent emergency surgery, and was thereafter warded in the Intensive Care Unit, where she is being monitored.
During that Saturday visit, the very vocal minor snatched her stuffed Barney Bear and hid behind the bed on seeing the male members of the religious group. The visitors had to be ushered outside before the child would come out of her hiding place and examine her gifts.
Commenting on the act perpetrated on the minor, Pandit Sugrim told the media that, as a religious leader, he is dissatisfied with the level of investment by his fellow men of the clergy.
‘As a leader, we should not just invest in one’s spiritual being, but also in their physical, mental, social and psychological existence. We need to pool our various resources together and, along with the government, table for stiffer penalties for perpetrators of sexual offences (particularly those committed on minors). If we put our energies together, we will make an impact.”
Recounting the incident, Sugrim said, “It is a sad state of affairs, someone having sexual intercourse with a minor. Imagine the pain she went through. (That) human beast needs to be put away for a long time. I do hope that the new Minister (Human Services) will pilot (in Parliament) tougher penalties. People are going to the church, the mandir, the mosque, but they are all lost; they have no values, no respect for women and children. As a religious leader, we need to do more.”
When the heinous incident happened, the mother of the child was reportedly at her mother-in-law’s home awaiting a telephone call from her reputed husband who resides in Trinidad. Her brother-in-law and his nephew were with her watching television when her two-year-old child began to cry.
The woman had previously taken the children home, at 23:30hrs, in the same yard in which her mother-in-law lives. She had put the children to sleep on a mattress before returning to her mother-in-law’s residence, where she continued to watch the movie.
At about 00:15hr, when the movie was completed, she went over to her home and discovered her daughter missing. An alarm was raised, and after repeatedly searching, the child was heard crying, and was subsequently found 150 feet away from home.
The child had reportedly said, ”Jumbie man lie on top of me.”    
Blood was seen on her pants, and a closer check revealed that blood was flowing from her vagina. She was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where she was operated on before being admitted into the Intensive Care Unit.
Police had arrested several members of her East Canje community, but no one has been charged. Investigations are, however, continuing.