Newsday Editorial
June 06, 2023
MANY are the reasons why a victim of sexual assault may not come forward.
Some fear they will not be believed. Others are daunted by a criminal justice system plagued with delay. All of this is made worse when the perpetrator is a member of the protective services.
Continue reading A special victim
By Dr Selwyn Cudjoe
February 23, 2021
Some people described the killing of Andrea Bharatt as “monstrous”, “brutal”, “horrible”, and “barbarous”. Those responsible for her death were called “monsters” or “Lucifers in the flesh”.
An autopsy showed the horrendous manner in which Andrea was killed. Rich and poor, Africans and Indians, urban and rural folks, were all repulsed by the barbarity of her killers.
Continue reading Who really are the monsters?
By Raffique Shah
February 15, 2021
I was wondering how many more candlelight vigils that seemed to be a genuine groundswell of public opinion on violent crimes against women would be staged in the name of abduction and murder victim Andrea Bharatt before two-by-two politicians sought to hijack what they would see as a mass movement they could ride for narrow self-interests, from photo-opportunities and media coverage to the prospect of political power.
Continue reading Do not pollute protests with politics
By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2021
THE outrage expressed by many people over the most recent case of the abduction and murder of a young woman is understandable.
We cannot believe that there exist among us depraved people who are capable of committing atrocities, inflicting extreme violence on women with seemingly consummate ease and callous detachment. It’s as if they are cast in some science fiction horror movie, acting out their darkest obsessions and cruellest fantasies, except the victims are real live people who end up very dead, sometimes mutilated and tortured before they die.
Continue reading Be careful when you hunt rapists
By Jensen La Vende
January 11, 2016 – guardian.co.tt
With the Carnival season now in full swing, police are warning people who plan to gyrate on others that they can be arrested for assault if the person they want to “thief a wine on” decides to engage the police.
Speaking at the weekly media briefing yesterday, public information officer of the Police Service ASP Michael Jackman said it is an assault to touch someone without their consent.
Continue reading Cops: Get permission before thiefing a wine
By Raffique Shah
November 16, 2017
Amidst an avalanche of allegations of sexual misconduct against a phalanx of prominent men, mostly in the USA, but also in other developed countries, one can anticipate a similar surge here in Trinidad and Tobago, although our litigation procedures are more constrained, some might argue restrictive, than in those jurisdictions. I argue, too, that cultural differences influence the way the local public, if not the courts, view such allegations.
Continue reading Sexual misconduct haunts public figures
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 22, 2016
On Monday evening, like so many people across America, I attended a vigil in honor of the 49 people who were gunned down at Pulse Night Club in Orlando just because some folks hate gay people. I was on my way to London but stopped in Wellesley, Massachusetts, to gather my papers and other necessities for my trip. In that small town of 28,000 people, about fifteen miles outside of Boston, I joined about three hundred people on the lawn of Wellesley’s Town Hall who had come together to stand in solidarity with those who had lost their loved ones in Florida.
Continue reading Gay and Straight Together
Newsday Editorial
Friday, June 17 2016 – newsday.co.tt
WE CONDEMN the flagrant violation of the privacy of a wide range of citizens which has been brought to the fore in recent weeks. Further, we also condemn the blatant – and sometimes politically-motivated – instances of victim shaming which have accompanied these incidents.
The matter involving former PNM senator Hafeez Ali has been accompanied by rhetoric from people seeking to score political points.
Continue reading Victim shaming
Published on May 19, 2016, 11:10 pm AST
A MAN appeared before the Princes Town court yesterday charged with kidnapping, raping and buggering a 62-year-old stroke victim.
Kayam Mohammed, 20, of Chaguanas, faced Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan and the indictable charges laid by Constable Dickie were read.
Continue reading Man charged with raping stroke victim, 62
By Nalinee Seelal
Wednesday, May 18 2016 – newsday.co.tt
POLICEMEN recoiled in shock and horror yesterday when they found two intoxicated sisters, aged nine and 14, naked and lying on the seats inside a heavily tinted Nissan Navara van. The 39-yearold driver, found clad only in his underwear and a jersey, was immediately arrested and remains in custody.
According to reports, at about 10.50 am, a party of officers led by Ag Sgt Ramlogan and including PC Leelum and others were on an exercise when they observed a heavily tinted black Nissan Navara van parked in an abandoned Caroni Ltd cane field near Cedar Hill Estate in Barrackpore. Officers instructed the driver to come out of the vehicle and submit to a search, but he instead started the engine and drove off at high speed. Officers gave chase and the van was intercepted and forced to stop a short distance away. The officers quickly surrounded the van. What they saw inside made them recoil in horror and revulsion. They saw a 14-yearold girl, naked and lying on her back on the front passenger seat which was reclined. On the backseat, also naked and lying down, was a nine-year-old girl. Both children appeared disoriented.
Continue reading NAKED GIRLS IN VAN