Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 02, 2013 News
The Guyana police have expressed surprise in the Barbados media that relatives of suspected young human trafficking victims claimed that the girls might be lying.
Prior to revealing to Kaieteur News Tuesday that Ministry of Human Services officials are trying to gag them, relatives of the five Guyanese girls caught up in the ‘importation for prostitution case’ had told this newspaper Saturday that they were unaware of the young women being forced into performing sex acts for money. One relative went so far as to say that the allegations were concocted.
The Barbados Nation newspaper on Tuesday quoted Guyana Deputy Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud, questioning the motives of these relatives who have spoken to the Press.
“I don’t know what would motivate [them] to go and tell the Press that,” Seelall reportedly said.
He added, “We were asked by police in Barbados to ascertain if relatives were threatened here [Guyana]. We don’t know if the victims told police that they were threatened, so we are assisting in investigations and that is our focus”.
Meanwhile, Guyanese sources living in Barbados have told Kaieteur News that the third person arrested in the case, 76-year-old Joan Fernandez had posed as the grandmother of a number of the girls.
They said much more fallout is expected because the youngsters, aged 17 to 21, have been talking freely to police, now that they are away from the clutches of their captors.
Barbados police on April 18 raided a bar in downtown Nelson Street and found the five girls clad only in bathing suits, purportedly working as prostitutes. The barman and proprietress were arrested and slapped with 30 charges relating to human trafficking. At the time police seized a quantity of passports, some said to be forged.
The woman, who is pregnant, was released on a total of Bds$30,000 bail (Bds$1 = US50 cents), and the man remains behind bars. Their next court appearance is set for May 22.
The pensioner, Fernandez, who was arrested on April 27 faces at least five charges and has been remanded to prison because she was unable to make bail and her surety was insufficient. She will re-appear in court on May 6
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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