The horrible life and death of this poor child demonstrates yet again
the brazen extent to which child rapists operate and are aided by
professionals at every step in Guyana. Should the police personnel and
Justice of Peace involved not be treated as accomplices in the abuse
and death of this child?

We appear to have a cadre of police officers, lawyers, Justices of
Peace, and doctors at hand to help rapists and violent criminals avoid
the law. It would be difficult to conclude anything but this from the
cases I have been observing in the last ten years.

Sadly one has long stopped wondering about the integrity of many
professionals in private and public practice. However, one is left to
wonder about the worth of the new legislation.  How does it treat with
the professionals that willfully as well as inadvertently through
negligence on the job help rapists to avoid the law?

Children are threatened not only by perpetrators of rape but also by
the network of professionals at hand to help rapists perpetuate their
acts and avoid justice. This includes pharmacists, freely selling date
rape and other mind altering drugs and who appear to be entirely
unregulated and unmonitored. The professional support network for rapists is one of the fundamental problems that have to be tackled. Every case that the professionals help to derail sinks victims everywhere into despair and sets back the ability of our society to address the horrific epidemic of child rape and violence in Guyana.

Minister Manickchand has worked hard to move the Sexual Offences Act
forward, but it is only a small start and even now, one wonders if it
is enough. I hope that Neesa’s gruesome death will catalyse a serious examination within respective professional bodies and the Central Government of the role that members of the professional services have been playing in facilitating and encouraging rape and violence against our children.

By the way, our children do not need any more “consultations” on this
issue. They need prompt corrective action, legislative and otherwise.