Market vendor to be sentenced for 2007, 2013 rapes

Ragoonanan Narine, 53, of south Trinidad will be sentenced on February 7 by Justice Hayden St Clair Douglas in the San Fernando High Court for raping a girl when she was nine years old in 2007, and raping her again in 2013 when she turned 15.

In October last year, a jury found Narine guilty on two counts of rape in relation to the 2007 incidents.

Last week, Narine, a market vendor, pleaded guilty before Douglas to two counts of raping the same victim in respect of the 2013 incidents.

The judge heard facts about that case from state attorney Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, who said that after the 2013 rape, the girl was 16 weeks pregnant when her mother discovered what had happened to her daughter, who had mental and physical challenges. Her mother took her to Dr Nickelson Beekho, who examined her.

Dougdeen-Jaglal submitted to the judge that the court ought to look at the fact that Narine was awaiting trial for the 2007 rape when he committed the same acts against the same girl in 2013. An additional aggravating factor, she added, was that he showed no remorse during his trial.

Attorney Ramesh Deena pleaded in mitigation on Narine’s behalf but the judge asked him to address the issue of the court’s having to pass sentence on consecutive charges in respect of the same victim, in which time spent in prison by the accused is a factor to consider in deciding whether deduction from the jail term is applicable. He should also consider whether it was a strategic move by Narine to plead guilty to the 2013 incident, having been found guilty just three months ago on charges relating to the same victim. Both Dougdeen-Jaglal and Deena will address the judge on February 7 and he will then pass sentence on Narine.