AN Essequibo Coast woman is calling on the relevant authorities to intervene in order to stop the constant sexual attacks on her 28-year-old mentally unstable daughter.The mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her daughter’s identity, spoke to the media on Monday and lamented how heartbroken she is at the advantage being taken of her only child.
The distraught woman who broke down in tears while relating her story, said her daughter is constantly being attacked and brutally raped by a man who lives a short distance from her. She said the man is married and has a wife and children.
According to the mother, the most recent attack occurred last Thursday night. She said that she cannot sleep in her house because the attacker has threatened her.
The woman related also that her daughter was left in a room during the night, and when she returned home last Friday morning, she was shocked and broke down in tears when she saw her daughter in a helpless condition.
She said her daughter was lying on her belly unable to move. The mother said despite putting steel bars across the windows in her house to keep out the attacker, he still managed to get in by removing some boards from near the ceiling of her one-flat concrete building. She said she knew that her daughter was again brutally raped.
The woman said she is confused, and did not want to go and report the matter to the police. However, while making a report recently at the Anna Regina Police Station, she wept bitterly, saying that it was advantage being taken on her helpless, mentally unstable daughter and nobody was coming to her rescue.
The mother said the abuse is constantly taking place, and when it started some months ago, she came face to face with the man who was in her house one night. The mother tearfully said that the man grabbed her from behind, forcefully took off her clothes and ordered her to lie on the bed before also raping her.
She claimed that when he was finished, he tied her feet and hands with pieces of cloth and said he was going over to her mentally unstable daughter’s room to rape her too.
The mother said she managed to free her hands, and took a piece of stick and started to hit the zinc of the roof of her house to alert neighbours, but the rapist came back and raped her for a second time.
She said the matter was reported to the police and the man was arrested, charged and placed before the court but, somehow, he is still walking the streets, and continues his sexual attacks on her helpless daughter.
She said further that every time she reports the matter to the police, she is always asked if she can recognise the man. She said she told them that the man had attacked and brutally raped her before he started the series of attacks on her daughter.
The woman said it is very difficult to look after her daughter, since she does not get any public assistance for her. The mother is now calling on the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Social Protection to come to her rescue.
By Rajendra Prabhulall