The most talked about issue at this time is the rape allegation against Minister of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall. The alleged rape, according to the teenaged victim, occurred on December 23, 2022 at Dharamlall’s home.
According to the victim, the rape was brutal. The teen was a virgin and Dharamlall was, according to the victim, at his most brutish. The details are too horrendous to be detailed here. Suffice it to say that the victim reported that her smaller brother had accompanied her to the home of the Minister.
The boy was sent to watch television while his sister had to face something that no woman should have to endure. She remained silent for months, living, as she said, in shame. From her statement it would appear that she was even contemplating suicide.
The story first appeared on social media. The victim probably posted it to someone who made the statement go viral. By Thursday it was all over the world. Those who could, spread the message. Then the news media picked it up.
I thought to myself that had any woman, much less a child, made such an allegation against me the police would have descended on me without hesitation. I might have been languishing in some cell to this day. Perhaps I might have gone before a magistrate. Dharamlall reportedly reached out to the parents of the victim even as the police sat idly by.
The victim’s parents live on the Essequibo Coast. Dharamlall is Georgetown based. He travelled to the Essequibo Coast despite a contrived statement by the girl recanting every allegation that she made in her statement. He reportedly offered the parents $10 million in two tranches.
There is a saying that poverty is a crime. To most Guyanese, $10 million is a lot of money. People would sell their mothers for that sum. I have known rape victims, through their parents, settling for even less.
But while this was going on, a police superintendent, Khemraj Shivbaran, somehow got the girl and produced that statement in which the girl was said to have recanted. Shivbaran got her to sign the statement then affixed his signature contending that the statement was given to him without duress.
What followed, now exposes the Guyana Police Force to ridicule. It confirms that the police are under the thumb of the government. For the police to seek to cover up a most heinous crime would make a dumb person cuss. Small wonder that the wider society has precious little regard for the police.
In the days following the allegation the government was silent. No woman on the government benches uttered a word. The Minister of Amerindian Affairs is still mum. Continuing in this trend were the so-called civic organisations like the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Private Sector Commission and numerous women’s organisations.
We subsequently learnt that the Minister of Human Services was out of the country. When she came home, she filed a report with the police. That led to the short arrest. In the police bulletin, I see reports of people being arrested for drug possession, reports of road fatalities, of murders and some simple charges like entering a dwelling house. But there is still not a peep about Minister Nigel Dharamlall in the police blotters.
It is said that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. But sometimes the individual would do things that highlight his guilt. If the reports of Dharamlall travelling to the Essequibo Coast to pay the parents is true, then that says something about his innocence. A reporter went to the Essequibo Coast, interviewed some of the victim’s relatives and eyewitnesses to Dharamlall’s visit. I am tempted to believe.
The protesters who span the social and political divides have taken to the streets. They want Dharamlall sacked. They have every right to believe that President Irfaan Ali may not be so inclined.
The girl’s statement was sent to him last week. It was also sent to numerous other people and agencies. But when questioned, President Ali initially said that he had seen only the social media reports. In a subsequent interview, he said that he would not tolerate any act of illegality. Great. Why remain silent in the face of the allegations when he was given ringside view to the statement?
Then the bizarre happened. Dharamlall had the effrontery to apply to President Irfaan Ali for administrative leave. Administrative leave is at the discretion of the administration. It is simply not applied for. But the president told the media that Dharamlall did so apply and that he had granted it. The tail wagged the dog most violently.
And Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who does not miss an opportunity to say something, seems to have lost his tongue, except when he wants to create a distraction.
I still remember the rape allegation against a former Vice President Robert Corbin. The noise from the PPP was horrendous, not least among the voices was Jagdeo’s. Without any prompting Corbin resigned and faced the courts. It was not a case of going off and still collecting a salary and the perks. Therein lies the difference between good governance and talk.
And to show the gross imbalance that exists, people are remembering the haste with which the government moved to arrest and charge people like Roxanne Myers, Clairmont Mingo, Trevor Benn, Colvin Heath London, and James Bond. Most of these were arrested on private criminal charges. These were all detained for at least 72 hours. Mingo was detained for longer. Their cases are still to be heard. I remember the desperate hustle to lock up former Finance Minister Winston Jordan.
Oh! What a tangled web we weave.
Nigel Dharamlall is in a different league. He was in the Brickdam Police Station for just about four hours. So much for One Guyana.
