Vendor gets 95 years for raping schoolgirl

A vendor who exploited a nine-year-old schoolgirl and raped her six consecutive nights and attempted to rape her on another night, was sentenced to a total of 95 years with hard labour yesterday by Justice Malcolm Holdip. The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently however, so Teerathraj Maharaj will only serve 15 years. In passing sentence on Maharaj, 40, a father of three, Justice Holdip warned, “Tampering with children of tender years is a matter of grave concern to the community. That is why life imprisonment is the  maximum penalty the legislature has set for offences involving sexual child abuse, and the court must reflect society’s abhorrence and concern.” He said his court was going to be a mouthpiece for such abused children and also cautioned, “Children of tender years are entitled to be free from defilement and psychological difficulties in later life. They are often too embarrassed, afraid or inhibited by feelings of guilt to complain.” 

Holdip said although there was no evidence before the court, the court believed the girl is psychologically scarred as a result of what she had been through. He added, “The function of the criminal law in the field of sexual offences is to preserve public order and decency. To protect the citizen from what is offensive and injurious and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are specially vulnerable because they are young, weak in body and mind, and inexperienced or in a state of special physical official or economic dependence.” He said from the very nature of the case, the nine-year-old victim found herself in a vulnerable position which Maharaj exploited due to her dependence and inexperience and possible fear of disrupting the relationship between her mother and Maharaj, had she let it be known what was happening. He expressed the view, “The fact that the girl showed spirit when giving her evidence and when being cross-examined is not in my view a reliable measure of the long-term effect on her of being robbed of her innocence by a person who should have cared for her and protected her.”

He recalled that there were no mitigating factors, not even the mitigation of good character, because Maharaj has two previous convictions for possession of cocaine. The judge said, “The most significant matter which determines where a particular offence is to be placed in the spectrum of offences of this kind is the degree to which the offender is seen to have exploited the youth of the victim.” According to the evidence led by State prosecutors Angelica Teelucksingh and Debbie Ann Bassaw, the girl’s parents are separated and almost every evening after school she would visit her mother who married Maharaj of St James after the separation. Her visits usually coincided with Maharaj’s seven-year-old biological daughter. About two week before the start of the school vacation, the girl fell ill and on July 29 1998, she went to spend some time with her mother in an effort to recover. At about 9 pm on that very night, Maharaj attempted to rape the girl in a room. He had oral sex with her and sucked her breast.

The following night, at about the same time, he again pounced on her and was successful in raping her. He repeatedly raped and subjected her to further sexual indignities over the next five nights. The girl said she was afraid to complain to her mother for fear that her mother would not believe her, and would beat her. Her fears were borne out during the trial in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court, when her mother, under oath, called her daughter a liar. She claimed that her daughter never spent those seven days at her home, but the jury was not fooled. They were convinced of the girl’s honesty and returned a guilty verdict on the seven-count indictment against Maharaj. Attorney Ryan Cameron represented Maharaj. On the first count of attempted rape, Maharaj was sentenced to five years hard labour and on each of the six counts of rape, 15 years with hard labour.