PCA, Children’s Authority, police intervene

SHARLENE RAMPERSAD

WITHIN hours of Newsday’s report of a San Fernando woman appealing for police help to save herself and her sisters from a sexual predator, senior police, the Police Complaints Authority and the Children’s Authority have reached out to the victims.

Speaking to this reporter on Monday, the woman who will not be identified because of the nature of her case, wept as she recounted being raped at the age of eight.

She said although she spoke out, she never got help and had to remain in the same house as her abuser until she ran away at 17. She said she aborted three pregnancies before she ran away. She dropped out of school and has worked odd jobs since.

She said her younger sisters are now the ones being abused.

She said the man has broken into her home, which is a short distance away from his own, on several occasions and last Thursday she woke up around 3am to find him lying on a bed next to her teenage sister, dressed only in his underwear.

She said the police who responded to her frantic call for help warned the man to behave and left.

When Newsday visited the area on Monday, neighbours said it has been common knowledge for years that the man sexually abuses the girls.

She was scheduled to meet with senior police yesterday afternoon.

In an interview before the meeting, she said she feels hope that some kind of justice will be afforded to her family.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t really know any kinda normal life…all I want is to have some peace when the night come, to sleep comfortable and not to have to worry about what will happen in the night,” she said.

“I hoping something happens now and my sisters could be safe.”

Up until 5.30pm yesterday she was still in a meeting with police. She said the Children’s Authority had contacted her as well about the case.