CONVICTED rapist, Calvin Ramcharran, has moved to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to challenge the decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal not to overturn or set aside his conviction and 23-year jail sentence.

In 2015, a 12-member jury found 28-year-old Ramcharran guilty of the rape and brutal assault of a woman at a dance at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, on July 22, 2012.

Trial judge, Jo-Ann Barlow, at the High Court, had sentenced him to serve 23 years for the rape and four years for the assault charge. The sentences are running concurrently.

The first charge stated that on July 22, 2012, in the county of Demerara, Ramcharran engaged in sexual penetration of an adult female without her consent. The second charge reads that on the same date, he assaulted the young woman, causing her actual bodily harm.

The Guyana Chronicle had reported that on the day in question, the young woman went to urinate and Ramcharran followed her, asking if she was “doing business” and she said no. Although he had heard that, he still assaulted the young woman and raped her.

He subsequently filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal challenging his conviction and sentence which he argued could not stand and therefore ought to be set aside or overturned.

However, in January, 2021, the Court of Appeal dismissed Ramcharran’s appeal and affirmed his conviction and sentence.

Dissatisfied, Ramcharran has now moved to the CCJ seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision.  The case is expected to come up for a case management hearing on October 12.