BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO members of the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) were arrested and charged yesterday afternoon (Feb. 24) for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl of Shadwell Estate.
The two soldiers are 39-year-old Lance Corporal Charles Bowry, also known as ‘Babash’ and ‘Bingo’, of Upper Bourkes Project, Sandy Point and 35-year-old Lance Corporal Jamal Phillip of Manchester Avenue, Newtown.
According to a police press release and charged by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department on warrants in the first instance for the offence of rape, which was committed on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at the old Fort Thomas site.
SKNVibes was informed that the two men were arrested and held in police custody on Wednesday. They are scheduled to appear today before a City Magistrate for bail hearing.
According to information gleaned by this publication, sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, while the teenager was standing on the road leading into Shadwell Estate in the vicinity of the renowned Shadwell Great House, an army patrol vehicle stopped close to her and a soldier ordered her to get into it.
The girl refused and one of the soldiers who was seated in the cab allegedly disembarked and pushed her into the vehicle, where she was forced to sit between he and the driver.
Information further states that she was taken to the historic Fort Thomas Hotel and allegedly raped by two soldiers in one of the bars by the poolside.
An informed source told this publication that after allegedly raping the 16-year-old, the soldiers placed her back into the vehicle, drove to the Newtown playfield and left her there in the company of another soldier.
“They however returned sometime after with the same truck and drove all the way to Upper Monkey Hill and leave her there,” the source added.
SKNVibes also learned that while in Upper Monkey Hill, the girl went to the home of one of her cousins to whom she told of the incident.
This media house had contacted the Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Crime, Ian Queeley, who informed that the girl’s parents had reported the matter to the police sometime in the afternoon of Saturday (Feb. 19) and police were investigating.
