Barely two weeks following the arrest of 21-yr-old rape suspect, who was charged with statutory rape of a 12 yr-old girl on old road, another rape case has surfaced with a Police officer accused of raping a 13 yr-old girl in the Paynesville- ELWA Junction area.FrontPageAfrica is withholding the name of the accused officer –  a 38-year-old man pending a charge from the LNP.

FrontPageAfrica has confirmed that the accused officer is assigned at the Zone#5 Police substation and works at the Liberia National Police Headquarters (LNP), in Monrovia.

The accused is a resident of the ELWA Junction, the same community the rape victim lives. According to the mother victim’s, Ms. Musu Baind , the incident occurred on May 14, 2011.

Ms. Bainda explained that her little girl was taken to the Du-Port Road Clinic and the medical report from the clinic proved positive.
The teen, who was later taken to the Open Society Initiatives of West Africa (OSIWA) village safe home for one month treatment and counseling, is presently with her mother in the ELWA Junction community.

Speaking to this paper in her home, the frightened child wearing a dark grey T-shirt and a short  blue pant with white stripes explained her ordeal on that fateful day.

She said: “My ma sent me to the shop for three cups of rice to come and cook and when I was coming, Uncle called me and asked if my ma was home and when I told him no, he hauled me in the house. He used his hands to over my mouth and when Aunty Yah started calling me from the shop, I tried to answer, but he slapped my mouth and told me to shut up.”

“He used his finger first and then he took off his trousers and started doing rude things to me. I was scare to tell my ma when she asked me, so I lied that Uncle did not do anything to me. After three days, when my stomach started hurting, I told my friend who later told my ma, and she took me to the hospital for treatment.”

According to the victim’s mother,  she had gone to a funeral on that Saturday of the incident but before she left, she sent her daughter to her shop at the ELWA junction to get some rice to cook and the police officer called the little girl to ask for the whereabouts of the mother.

“He asked the child for me and pulled her into the house and raped her, but she was scare to tell me when I asked her where she had been all this while.”

In a frustrating and pitiful mood, Ms. Bainda said reluctantly: “When I saw the story of the other rape victim in the FPA, I decided to come and report my case because the Police keep drilling me up and down.  I am confused because the police that are supposed to save lives and properties are raping our children, so who else do I go to, when the same Police who are supposed to do the arrest, are involved in the crime.”

Continued Bainda: “The Police are not taking care of us because we are told that when something happens to us, we should run to them but I don’t think they are here to rescue us. I think they’re here to harm us. The Officer is still walking around in uniform and boasting that nothing will come out of the case because he is a Police officer.”

When our reporter visited the Zone #5 Police Depot in Paynesville where the case was reported to find out what had happened to the officer involved, she was told by Commander Pewee Zawar that he had compiled the report and sent it to the Central Headquarters.

When contacted via mobile phone, Mr. George Bardu, Press Officer at the LNP said he could not answer because he had no knowledge. At the ELWA junction, FPA interviewed some residents who said they were aware of the incident.

Mr. Akoi Sumo, who said he had known the accused officer since 2009, disclosed that he went to the scene after the incident. He said he was present when the victim’s mother asked the Officer in the presence of others and the officer was hostile.

“When we tried asking him what happened he became aggressive.  We took him to the Zone #5 Police station, it was when he said he was an officer. We also asked for the transfer of the case to Central, but there, too, nothing happened so far.”

Speaking about his disappointment in the Police, Mr. Akoi said he expects the Police to do better as rape is a crime under Liberian law. “As rape is a first degree felony under our laws, it is an obligation of the authority to prosecute the accuse, but since May, nothing has been done. This is because the officer is still walking around in his uniform and boasting that nothing would come out of the case. We want justice to be done in this case as we have laws and order. ”