Deaf/mute Tobago woman drugged and gang-raped

TOBAGO police have launched a massive man-hunt for four men who last week abducted a deaf/mute Tobago-nian woman in broad daylight and subsequently drugged and then gang-raped her. According to reports, the young woman was forced into the back seat of a heavily tinted car at Greenside Street, Scarborough, around 2 pm last Friday, by two well-dressed men armed with guns. The men immediately donned masks on entering the car, which was occupied by the driver and another man sitting in the front passenger seat. The abduction reportedly took place about 100 metres from where uniformed police officers were on traffic duty.

As the vehicle was driving past the policemen, the 23-year-old victim, who can neither speak nor hear, started struggling in an attempt to alert the officers. But she was threatened with a gun and forced to remain still. The victim was taken to the public cemetery at Bacolet, less than two miles away, where in the vicinity of a cliff, the men took turns raping her. The victim was reportedly drugged by injection to keep her subdued. The men then fled the scene leaving the victim in a semi-conscious state. When she regained consciousness the woman made her way back to Scarborough where she boarded a taxi  and went home. The men had earlier warned the victim that if she informed the police, they would return to kill her.

The following day, the deaf/mute broke down in tears while at church and subsequently related her ordeal to shocked relatives, in writing. The police were alerted and the victim was taken to a medical facility where she was medically examined by the District Medical Officer who confirmed that she had been assaulted. Detective Cpl Shirley Stanley-Caruth of Scarborough CID is investigating the incident. Meanwhile, the Board of the Tobago School for the Deaf has “strongly condemned this ghastly act” and is facilitating psychological counselling for the victim. Board chairman Gerald MacFarlane noted this was the fifth time in four years a crime of this nature was perpetrated against someone suffering such a disability. The Board is appealing to anyone who may have information which can assist the police in their investigation, to contact the Scarborough CID.