By Reshma Ragoonath
June 27, 2012 – guardian.co.tt
A Gasparillo woman who turned a blind eye while her nine-year-old daughter was being sexually abused in their home in 2003 has been jailed for nine months. The woman, who was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, appeared before Magistrate Alicia Chankar in the San Fernando court. She was convicted of failing to report to the police that her daughter was being sexually abused by a 20-year-old man.
The offence took place on a date unknown in November 2003. Court Prosecutor Sgt Russell Ramoutar led the State’s case. Chankar, in passing sentence on the mother of eight, said, “A mother serves as a protector. As parents we have a duty to care for a child, not only in the embryonic stage.”
The magistrate said it seems the family had a “history of turning the other way and placing blame where blame is not warranted.” She said the rights of the child needs to be protected and the court could not condone such actions. Chankar said the country needed organisations such as Advocates of the Child in the United States of America to step in when such matters come before the court to offer counselling. The girl, now a teenager, testified in court that her mother beat her when she reported the abuse.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-06-27/mother-jailed-ignoring-child%E2%80%99s-sex-abuse
What is this I am Reading.
The Child was (9) years Old at the time the crime was Committed, It took (9) years fro the Case to get to Court, They give the Woman (9) months in Jail.
She should get ( 3×9) years. No Wonder Crimes are Flourishing in Trinidad.
If your stone aged theory becomes the law ephillip, all of central, and similar enclaves of the tribe, from which our dear female PM emerged would be gutted , as the men in those region indulges in that behavior to the same or greater degree, to which you adore eating your daily doubles on Henry /Chacon street.
Just as despicable, is the fact that the equally desperate women, that are aware of the unwholesome practice , tend to cover up, to the same degree, as their High priest, and Imams – since culture dictate such silence, yes? Ok , if u doubt me den ask Madame Linda , our resident historian, in addition she has certain blood, running proudly through her veins , from her families that settled in Carapichima, and Oropuche.
Wake up buddy, your country, it’s leaders,and their confused ,policy wonks advisers ,might be reading Trini center , and may be tempted to draw idiot conclusions ,as to what fellow citizens desire ,as far as policy.
See WE already ‘Jack Sprat could eat no fat Warner,’ thinking about painting Commissioner Gibbs face Black , shaving his head , HAVE him walk around in front of our TV with dark shades , with Uzi in tow , giving him a Indo Trini wife , so that he can be the next much needed flying squad chief / ace ,a la Randy B? These clueless Bozos!Ah tell you .
Parents should rightfully be held responsible for not fulfilling their roles as Protector and Role Models for their children.
The society is so soaked in Filth and indecent morality, some Parents don’t even know the roles they have to fulfill. Breeding and making children are one, bringing up and instilling proper morals and Spiritual values is another.
As days for Home Schooling is dwindling away- the day care centers and public school curriculum’s are presenting itself all over the place.
A closer look at society today will show that Government has grown to massive and is intruding into every aspect of our lives.
Every single issue propping up now is turning to Government for Help; This should not be. The Church has played an important role in the affairs of education and with temperance movements in various countries and societies at large. The State has out done the Churches, only the State is doing all the Talking and walking.
Churches, you are Responsible for most of these Moral issues as well- The Family is the Building Block and unit of the Society, if the Family Crumbles all would crumble, this is a known and living fact.
Fathers and Mothers, you are the back bone in keeping a strong knitted society. If you have lost your bearings, Am afraid to say Government cannot fix this. Instead of leaving your children to form their own opinions on certain inherited Traits of character, you should be the Disciplinarians in the Homes.
Once your Child is under your roof, while you support and maintain them before becoming Adults, here the Discipline of early Childhood education comes into play. Early Child hood education does not only takes place in the Pre-Schools and Primary Schools. No it takes place around the Dining Table, in the Household.
Parental Bonding with children are becoming something of the past. When last have you spend much time with your kids? When last did you knelt and Prayed with them? Are they connected to the Culture, or the Heritage? Do we have a culture and Heritage anymore?
Don’t let the Technology Gadgets control and think for you, keep it at the distance where you can still have self control and power over it.
So much History has given lofty Characters in world societies, but only a few decades has eroded this away, all in the name of freedom and interpretation. But I think the problem is to much freedom and the excesses of so-called freedom has driven us right back into regression.
Why did people bleed and suffered to bring about freedom? only to have it trampled upon. We are regressing back into the caves of ignorance- when we abuse our free given freedom.
Sex and sex Revolution, Individuality and Responsibility, Limits and Barriers, these are the days that is showing post-experimentation, post resolution, post modernism, post Religion, post absolute, post moral absolute, no barriers, no restrain- But am afraid to say that this is abuse in its most natural form.
When natural laws as an absolute is being broken and transgressed, we have to pay the consequences. The Fate of mankind is in the balance- now the FAITH of mankind is also in the balance. FATE and FAITH are two different things. One is like destination, while the other is Revelation.
If we don’t have Revelation to guide our destination :we are only drifters and shifters. And such is the case.We might the Judge, but who would judge us?…
And what has happened to the 20 year old that abused the 9 year old??
I am pleased to see the mother go to jail, I hope the child is able to heal soon. My own mother allowed my stepfather to sexually molest me from the age of seven, today I am 46 and only now beginning to heal. It is good to see that an adult respoded when the child reported it. We should all pray for the child and be prepared to get involved when a child reaches out for help or when we are made aware of situations like this.
So true. i remembered when i informed my own mother of my stepfather abuse, she told me i was a liar, to get away from her sight, so many children are being abuse all over the world, and their family covers up, just to keep their marriage intact. my mother was one of them.
Even my own father abused me as a child. i am now old and cannot forgive, these mothers should be jailed and castrated.
survivor you are really a “SURVIVOR” I will pray you complete your healing process.Mothers please protect your children, it is your duty.after all these years of pain this mother have to now go to jail ,this is not a win win situation .not only does this daugther have to still deal with the molestation she now also have to deal with the fact that her mother went to jail … does anyone believe this daugther will be ok with that ??? I hope and pray she gets all the help and suport she needs to see her through this.Another question went cross my mind ..ah wonder what type of relatioship the mother and daugther will have or NOT have going forward ?
All too often, mothers unconsciously, or consciously, offer their children to men with whom they have a relationship, in order to avoid his leaving them. This would be why she would beat the child, and refuse to believe her. Sometimes, the mother accuses the child of “making eyes” at her man. Sometimes the child is made to feel guilty that the breadwinner might have to go to jail, and the family would be rendered homeless.
If children are educated actively in school, along the lines of “Goood touch” “bad touch”, children may be likelier to tell their teachers when something is not right in the home. Children who want to run away from home, especially girls, are often crying for help.
In more developed societies, like in the USA, teachers are trained to look for signs of abuse, and to call a social worker in,(Child Protective Services) without first contacting the parent, and yet the attrocities of Penn State happened, and the abuses within one Christian sect, happened. Children MUST be trained to know that their bodies are sacrosanct, and NO ONE should touch them, unless they are sick and are at the doctor’s.
By the time a child is seven or so, she can bathe herself effectively, and does not need any one’s “Help”. These are ploys that perverts use. Mothers are , unfortunately, often drunk, abused themselves, or good time girls who happened to have gotten pregnant, thus making their children vulnerable to harm from others who can spot needy children, the way mosquitoes smell blood when we sweat.
MAke a list of all the notorious cases of abused and disappeared children in TnT in recent years. All that I know of, except one. were children of single mothers. Watch when “friends” offer to “help” your child.Remember Hope Arismandez.
Eternal Vigilance, of parents and teachers is required.