BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MANAGEMENT of the university on St. Kitts, where a 17-year-old American student was allegedly raped by another student of that institution, has denounced the allegation of staff’s interference in the police matter.
Contacted by this media house following yesterday’s (Feb. 8) publication of an article headlined “Rape victim seeks justice”, a senior management official claimed that no one from the university had in any way tried to alter the course of justice in this matter.
“The university is committed to maintaining the integrity, confidentiality and fairness of all its faculty, staff and students. The university will never interfere with the natural process of the law and justice system, and it will always provide whatever services it deems necessary to its members that are victims of crime,” the official said.
The official added that the learning institution would never circumvent the natural course of justice and that the university provides compassion and counselling to students who are victimised.
“With the aforementioned in mind, let it be known that no one from the University has in any way tried to alter the course of justice in this matter. The university has been there from the onset of the report and is continuing to lend support in this matter. No university staff or official have tried in any way or form to influence this matter away from the legal course of action,” the official stressed.
In a cautionary statement, the official said that the university “strongly cautions all persons who are not privy to the facts of this matter to refrain from slander and gossip and let the facts of this matter be tried through the legal justice system that has responsibility for justice in the Federation”.
The student, who enrolled at the university in September 2011, said she was raped on the night of Sunday, January 29 by a student with whom she was acquainted.
She said that because of her age, the university appointed her a local guardian whom she claimed attempted to influence the course of justice after the incident was reported to the police.
“My guardian went to the police and told them that I no longer wanted to continue with the case. So at this point where I’m standing he’s still out there; there’s no chance of him going back in jail because my guardian says I wanted to withdraw the case. He went to the cops and the guy’s lawyer and said that I want to withdraw the case without my permission. I had no idea this was happening.”
The victim’s mother, who flew into St. Kitts in support of her daughter, also accused the guardian of misconduct.
“So we learnt that the lawyer said to the guardian, ‘Why do you want to withdraw the case?’ and his response was because it’s just a minor matter and that she wants to withdraw it and that the school has a lawyer for that…which is a total lie!
“We just met the school officials who said they would never side with the accused. So he is not only mishandling her information but he’s actually stabbing her in the back and also stabbing the school in the back,” the mother told this publication, adding at first they were hearing that the school had hired a lawyer for the accused, which also was proven to be false.
The victim is adamant that the guardian’s intervention was to influence the course of justice and that he encouraged her to withhold vital evidence from the police.
“My guardian is the person we go to when we need help or having problems. But he went to help my rapist. He pretended to be helping me but all along he was helping the guy. I also had evidence on my phone and the guardian advised me not to turn it in, and that might be one of the reasons the guy is out right now.”
The 17-year-old also accused the university’s head of security of wanting her to drop the charges.
“A security guy would come and ask me all the time if I want to change my statement, and would say that I don’t look like somebody who is traumatised. How is someone to look?”
Shortly before press time, SKNVibes contacted the police and a senior personnel said that the accused was charged, the matter is “before the court and justice will be dispensed”.
