St Helena man gets 20 years, 15 strokes for rape

Standing before Justice Herbert Volney at the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court yesterday, the convicted man, 34-year-old Rawle Beekaroo, a painter and PH driver of Kelly Village, St Helena, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labour and 15 strokes with the birch. He was found guilty of kidnapping, raping and the aggravating sexual assault of the woman.

According to the judge, these were dangerous times and the travelling public, especially women, took chances with their lives when they entered vehicles late at night.

Volney said this was a classic case whereby the victim worked the night shift at a business place in Curepe and was seeking to get home to be with her child.

Beekaroo, Volney said, took advantage of her in a most "demising and debasing," fashion and then went on oath to give an account of the incident which the jury obviously did not believe.

"She (the victim) is one of the brave ones" to come forward and relive her experience in court and "today is her day," Volney said.

The judge said his main concerns were punishment and deterrence because it was the right of women in this country to travel late at night if they chose to do so without having to be afraid of being assaulted.

After handing down the sentence, Volney expressed the hope that "women in this country will sleep a little easier tonight" because one more sexual offender was off the streets.

The evidence led by the State was that on August 1, 2001, the victim left her workplace at about 10 pm and took a taxi to Arima. While waiting on a taxi to get to Valencia, Beekaroo drove up in a rented car and said he was going to Sangre Grande.

The woman got in and, along the way, he stopped twice saying that there was a hole in the radiator. She became suspicious when he stopped the second time, and she noticed he was pouring water but the radiator cover was still on.

When he got back into the car, he put a piece of leather around her neck, made her undress and told her he wanted her to be his sex slave for the night. He fondled her breasts and her vagina and forced her to put her head between her knees as he drove to his apartment.

She told him she was menstruating and he ordered her to take a shower, after which he forced her on a mattress and had sex with her. She recalled that the ordeal lasted about 15 minutes.

She was allowed to leave at 2 am and went to a nearby house where she was assisted by a man and his sister.

The man attempted to get transport to take her to the Caroni Police Station, but was unable to because of the time. She made a report at the Caroni Police station at 6 am on August 2 and Beekaroo was arrested and charged on August 4.

In his defence, the convicted man said he was in Arima buying doubles on the night in question and he passed by the Sangre Grande taxi stand and saw the woman. He said she agreed to "chill out" with him, but said he had to take her home by midnight.

He said the idea of sex never entered his mind until they got to his apartment and she started making advances towards him. They had sexual intercourse and she fabricated the story when she found out he had a girlfriend.

After the conviction, Beekaroo’s attorney Larry Williams said it was impossible to mitigate when the jury had found his client guilty of these types of offences.

The only mitigating factors, Williams said, were that he had no previous convictions and that the victim was allowed to leave his client’s house "unharmed."

State attorneys Nalini Singh and Shoba Jamunar prosecuted.