BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING sharply on the heels of rape charges preferred against a Constable of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and a member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, two more soldiers were slapped with similar charges but for separate incidents.
According to a police statement in which no name was provided, a male resident of Nevis was arrested and formally charged for the offence of rape which was allegedly committed in June 2016. He was granted bail in the sum of $10,000.
The other man, who resides in St. Kitts and whose name was also withheld, was also arrested and charged for the offence of rape which was allegedly committed on Monday May 2, 2016.
He was granted bail to the tune of $20,000 and was ordered to keep 100 feet away from the virtual complainant (VC), have no contact with the VC in person or through an agent, and to surrender all his travel documents.
Though the police did not state the place of employ of the two rape accused, this publication was reliably informed that both of them are in the Defence Force; one of whom is a reservist.
Speaking last evening (Dec. 20) on ZIZ television, Commander of the Defence Force, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Wallace stressed that his organisation does not condone such behaviour but noted that one is innocent until proven guilty.
“Under our Constitution, persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is done in a court of law and the verdict is decided upon by a panel of jurors of the case. And in this case, that is the Defence Force’s position.
“Having said that, I’ll like the general public to understand that the Defence Force in no way shape or form condones unethical, lawless or behaviour that will bring discredit to our organisation.”
The Commander declared that members of the Force are being sensitised regularly on what society expects of them.
“We try to sensitise them to what is required of them as members of the Force. And so when these things happen it pains us because we have invested a lot of time in in-house lecturers and visiting lecturers, trying to sensitise our members as to the responsibility to our society.”
He categorically stated that the Defence Force is tasked with the protection of the weak, the helpless and “we cannot appear to be preying on the very people that we have sworn to protect”.
