Suicidal rape suspect appears in court

THE 26-year-old rape suspect who was hospitalised for ten days after he was found hanging in a cell at Barrackpore Police Station, yesterday appeared before a Siparia magistrate charged with the rape. The accused, who appeared in court with a brace supporting his neck, was subsequently granted $75,000 bail to cover the rape charge which was laid under the Sexual Offences Act. The case was heard before Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle.

Having been released from the San Fernando General Hospital on Wednesday evening, the accused was charged and spent the night in a cell at Siparia Police Station where he was kept under close watch by police on duty. It is alleged the accused and another man, who already appeared in court, raped a 21-year-old schoolteacher at Wilson Road, Barrackpore on Thursday November 4. He was arrested the following day and spent the weekend in police custody. On Sunday November 7, officers found him hanging in his cell with a black cord tied around  his neck.