…as motorist involved walks free
An eight-year old girl struck down on the Mc Doom Public Road, East Bank Demerara, by a speeding motor vehicle last Thursday, remains disfigured and writhing in pain on her hospital bed, while the motorist responsible for her injury is walking free and retains custody of his vehicle. Around 15:00hrs on that day, Leslyn Baptiste, of 12 Public Road Mc Doom, a Grade  2 pupil of Agricola Primary School, also on the East Bank Demerara, had just completed her journey from school, and was standing opposite her home, waiting for her father to take her across the road, when she was struck down by a speeding motor vehicle.

On impact, the child was hurled several feet into the air and landed heavily on the bonnet of the car, before being thrust about another thirty feet ahead, witnesses said. Persons working in the vicinity of the Mc Doom Feed Shop next to which the accident occurred, said it was a miracle that the child is still alive, and are worried about her chances of recovery. She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she is currently warded and suffering multiple life-threatening injuries.

Her injuries include a fractured skull, injuries to the right eye, two fractures to the right leg, multiple abrasions to the left leg, and injuries to the back.  Meanwhile, her distraught relatives said hospital authorities have cautioned that, based on the head injuries sustained, chances for her complete recovery remain bleak.

But even as family members are hoping and praying for her recovery, her parents Marcel Baptiste and Heeralal Boodram, have expressed disgust and utter annoyance with the manner in which the matter was handled, claiming that even before the doctor had prepared and handed over a medical statement, the offending motorist was released from custody and walking free, even before 72 hours.  They claim he was subsequently rearrested and again released yesterday and is driving his motor car again.

The child’s relatives, who claim that the motorist never approached them to find out about their daughter, or in any way to empathize over her injuries suffered, are calling for the arm of the law to be extended, and that justice be done.