…four schoolboys allegedly confessed to crime
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - JUST under two weeks after fire at the Mahdia Secondary School’s female dormitory had claimed the lives of 19 girls and a five-year-old boy, and left a number of others injured, another female dormitory was allegedly maliciously set ablazed but fortunately no one was injured.
The fire occurred at the St. Angela’s Girls’ Hostel at Karasabai, South Pakaraimas, Rupununi, reportedly between 2:30 a.m. and 3:15 hours yesterday (June 1).
At the time of the fire, 17 children between the ages of 11 16 years and two dorm mothers were in the building.
According to a statement from the Guyana Fire Service, a student awoke around 3:15 a.m. to use the washroom and discovered the building was on fire and she raised an alarm.
After the alarm was raised, officers from the Karasabai Police Station and villagers immediately formed a bucket brigade and extinguished the fire, which left the building partly destroyed.
Police reported that on the previous day, four 13-year-old boys had threatened to set fire to the building after they were chased away by the caretaker.
“The four alleged suspects were contacted and interviewed by the police in the presence of Commander Region #9, the Regional Education Officer Region #9 and their parents and they all confessed to the planning and executing of the crime,” police said.
As a result of the fire at the Mahdia Secondary School’s female dormitory on Sunday (May 21), a 15-year-old female student of the said learning institution was slapped with 19 counts of Murder and remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre in Georgetown until Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
It is, however, likely that the four 13-year-old boys will not be charge for the offence they allegedly committed, as the Juvenile Justice Act states that it shall be presumed that no child under the age of 14 shall be capable of or guilty of committing an offence.
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