PRESS RELEASE – This week alone three matters have come to the news involving rape.
One involving a policeman, another where a woman was allegedly raped in the privacy of her residence and now a young girl a victim of the act whilst at work. All three acts must have been a horrendous experience to the victims. The reports are that crimes of sexual assault and rape have been on the increase.
Citizens will remember the recent cases of the two young schoolgirls in the Reduit area and the elderly grandmother in Micoud who were subjected to such extreme violence.
With all the excuses Mr. La Corbinere has been giving for the lack of resources and poor state of operations under our national security, we now read in a weekend newspaper a report bybMicah George quoting Acting Commissioner Alexander as describing the problems of investigating serious crimes with a closed down crime laboratory. Alexander says that results from forty-two samples are still being awaited from overseas. That in it self must amount to a lot of work the police have to send overseas whilst our lab remains closed. He also laments the situation is so grave that persons arrested have to be released pending the arrival of results and which in itself is cause for even more concern.
So while the public is being asked to cooperate with the police by way of providing information, success will come not only from that, but the kind of evidence required to stand up in a court. How then will our police officers be able to solve rapes and murders and other serious crimes? Already we are not sure as to the level of victim counseling girls and women are receiving and if that occurs in all cases.
Like others concerned, again we ask Minister LaCorbiniere, when will the crime lab be reopened after being closed for so long? Is it due to a lack of staff, money, resources or someone to run the lab or maybe it is not a priority. When will results of tests sent overseas finally arrive in St. Lucia and how much will it cost taxpayers? Is it that to get answers and action we must go through the channels of the European Ambassadors, as it is quite apparent that the voices of St. Lucians do not seem to matter much?
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