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Rampaging rapists
Published: Monday | March 12, 201235 Comments
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
A <span style="font-weight: bold">75-year-old</span> former teacher is among 18 women who have been raped in Manchester over the past five months.
Assistant Commissioner Derrick Cochrane, who heads the Area Three Police, has confirmed the high number of rapes in the central Jamaica parish.
The confirmation came days after Gleaner sources reported that the matter was being kept hush-hush.
Cochrane said 11 of these rapes occurred in the first 69 days of this year, an increase of four when compared with the number of rapes recorded over the corresponding period last year.
Three of those assaults, police investigators revealed, occurred in the Knockpatrick area.
The victims include a young woman who was raped shortly after she was engaged to be married.
In one of the most recent attacks, the elderly retired teacher was walking near the Mandeville campus of Northern Caribbean University about 6:45 a.m. when she was dragged into nearby bushes and raped.
Sergeant Olivia Evans, head of the Manchester branch of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), told The Gleaner there was no indication that a serial rapist was behind the attacks.
"I don't think that's the case because it is not as if we are getting reported cases from one area," said Evans, while confirming the incidents in Knockpatrick.
Evans revealed that one man was taken into custody for the attack on the 75-year-old as well as two other rape cases, but he was released after the victims failed to identify him.
Cochrane declined to comment on the status of the police's probe into the rape case, but pleaded with victims of crimes to come forward and report it to the police.
"If it is that persons have been the victims of any crime and they fail to report the crime, it is a double loss for them," he reasoned.
Added Cochrane: "One, the perpetrator is not brought to justice and two because of the foregoing, the perpetrator will be emboldened to continue perpetuating these crimes."
Evans said as part of the plan to stem the increase in rapes, personnel from the Manchester CISOCA office have fanned out across the parish meeting with various community groups to inform them of measures they can take to protect themselves.
"We have visited youth clubs, churches and we have talked with the PTAs (parent-teachers associations). We are doing the best we can," she said.
Rapes increasing
Police statistics have shown that, nationally, rape is the only category of serious crime that recorded an increase last year.
According to the statistics, which were released earlier this year, the police recorded 748 cases of rape in 2011, a six per cent jump when compared with the 704 reported in 2010.
There were 701 reported cases of rape in 2009.
In comparison, the statistics showed that murders, shootings and cases of carnal abuse all declined by between 13 and 22 per cent last year when compared with 2010.
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