The Guyana Police Force in a statement today said Mrs. Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), advised there should be no further investigation in to the alleged rape of a minor by Mr. Nigel Dharamlall, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development.
According to the Police, Hack advised that in the absence of the 16-year-old’s complaint, there is no legal provision for the Police to proceed with the matter against Dharamlall.
Explosive, intimate, detailed and graphic accounts of what allegedly occurred were initially directed to the government, of rape, sodomy and forced oral sex of a minor by the minister. The information was later shared via social media. The incident reportedly occurred last December.
The minor, who is from the Indigenous community, participated in an Indigenous pageant last year and was sponsored by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
The Force said the case file in relation to the allegation of rape made against Dharamlall was sent to the DPP for her legal opinion. “In her advice, the DPP disclosed that consideration was given to the fact that the complainant gave a further statement to investigators that she wished to withdraw her complaint against Minister Dharamlall and that her decision was not influenced by anyone and that same was in her best interest.”
The Police said the DPP also proffered her advice “based on the fact that the virtual complainant’s statement was taken by a forensic interviewer in the presence of a parent, a Child Care officer and a Police officer and that success[ive] statement was free and voluntary.”
And in light of the above, the DPP, the police said “concluded that in the absence of the victim’s complaint, there is no legal provision for the Police to proceed with the matter.”
