SAVAGERY

A 12-year-old girl and her 15-year-old sister, who were raped, stabbed and chopped multiple times in a predawn attack at their home just over a week ago, are recovering in hospital while their family ponders their next move.

The accused man, who residents believe is in his 30s and reportedly has a violent history, is said to be well known in the community, the name of which The Gleaner is withholding to protect the victims’ identities.

The suspect’s relatives have also reportedly removed themselves from the area out of fear of reprisal.

When our news team visited the tense community on Monday, residents were still fuming. They lamented the significant trauma the incident had caused, leaving a stigma on their neighbourhood.

“Dem thing deh nuh gwan ‘round here. ... We sorry say dem never hold him or else a different thing unno would a come fi investigate,” one resident expressed.

The incident reportedly occurred some time after 5 a.m. on September 30 as the girls were asleep at the home to which they had relocated after their mother was killed execution-style a few years ago.

The girls were in the care and custody of their 23-year-old sister.

“I went to get a change (lunch money) for [them]. It was a little after 5 in the morning. I was to get it the night before … ,” she told The Gleaner yesterday, adding that she is now fearful of returning to the premises.

WINDOW BLADES REMOVED

Yesterday, the window blades which had reportedly been removed by the attacker to gain entry to the dwelling were still displaced.

“A deh so him go in pon dem from,” one resident pointed out when The Gleaner made the trek to the ill-fated home.

The sister is calling on police investigators to prioritise the case.

“I’m just trying to do the best for the girls dem because they [are] only accepting me to come and visit them,” she said.

“The smallest one has the tube to her chest still … . The 15-year-old, she is doing fine. She is walking and talking, but she still have the bruise dem so she have an X-ray to do with the chop wounds. Dem get chop in a dem head and them hand … . The little one lungs was punctured,” she said, detailing the injuries.

She is hoping the girls will also get counselling as they recover from the dreadful ordeal, adding, “The younger one don’t want any male doctors around her. Honestly, mi nuh know weh fi say.”

“A di first something like that happen. One did serious more than the other … ,” a neighbour disclosed. “The big one, she get two chop in her head – 15 stitches – and she get 20 stitches in her face; her hand dem chop up. The 12-year-old, she get stab mostly and chop. Him use a screwdriver and stab up she … ,” a neighbour close to the family added, telling The Gleaner that she is also traumatised.

The girls’ aunt told The Gleaner that the family is hurting, having also suffered multiple deaths of relatives in the last three years.

“Dem (victims) in a the hospital now, ... but when dem come, we a go tek dem out the area. We nah mek dem stay here. The big one is doing well, but yuh see the small one, she wake up now and she a answer when we talk to her. She was constantly having blackouts and they ran some tests and it turned out she have sugar,” the aunt told The Gleaner.

“We just a try be strong. Mi have two other kids, so mi can’t too put it pon my head … . We a try cope,” she added.

“Mi afraid, too. The place nah gwan good … ,” said a grandaunt.

Other female residents of the area are now fearful as the attacker remains at large.

Up to October 1, some 303 rapes had been reported across the island for this year, a 13 per cent decline from the 349 recorded for the corresponding period in 2021.

Head of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, Senior Superintendent Maldria Jones-Williams, told The Gleaner that the matter was under investigation.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com