PHOTO: Madam Joan Taylor, WIPNET Coordination in Maryland
By Cheegbamun N. Wilson
PLEEBO, Liberia- The Maryland County Coordinator for Women In Peacebuiding Network (WIPNET) in Liberia’s southeastern Maryland County, Joan Taylor has described rape as “wicked and heartless”, calling for life imprisonment for perpetrators, amidst an upsurge in this crime.
Madame Taylor’s statement came following police recent charges against a 38 year-old man, Daniel Toe who allegedly raped an 11 year-old girl in the Pleebo, amid increase in the number of rape cases.
“I can’t really understand what’s happening to the men, especially men that are heartless,” she wondered.
Madame Taylor questioned whether men involved in such acts are doing it for ritual purposes or they are abnormal.
“We have lot of girls in the streets who are selling themselves, some are naked and some are half naked if you can exchange for something if your sexual appetite is for real.”
The women leader wonders whether rapists do not think about their mothers, when they are rapping minors who are mothers for future generations.
She condemned suspect Toe’s “heartless and shameless” alleged raping the 11 year-old girl, which she believes has the propensity to embarrass her future with stigma and marital problems, among other things.
Madam Taylor recommends the enactment of legal framework that will bring penalty on parents who may compromise rape cases, as well door to door awareness as some needed measures to minimize rape in the country.
The WIPNET Coordinator in Maryland County also criticized some parents refusal to report rape cases to the requisite authorities on time. This, she said is on one reason responsible for the rise in Sexual Gender Based Violence cases.
“Maryland issues, sometimes people like to do it like this, let’s carry it home which is bad for our kids,” Madam Taylor said.
In a clear tone, the civil society actor said that she does not support death penalty for rapists as others suggested during the radio program, because perpetrators are also entitled to their right to live like anyone else in the world.
She has lauded community dwellers who raised the alarm and the Liberia National Police for their prompt interventions.
Police in Pleebo recently charged and sent to court a 38-year-old Daniel Toe for allegedly raping a girl, 9.
“Rape is defined under our penal code 14.70 and it is a felony of first degree,” police charge sheet says.
The child had gone to visit her friends on August 1, 2020 when the criminal act was carried out.
Suspect Toe was on Wednesday, August 12 forwarded at the Harper Central Prison, awaiting trial by the 4th Judicial Circuit Court.
According to the head of the Women and Children Protection Division of the Liberia National Police in Pleebo, D. Kaplah Karneh, suspect Toe was arrested, charged and incarcerated at the Pleebo police cell on August 8, a week after the reported occurrence of the incident.
This suspected had been pursued by the police for a week.
Toe is said to have denied committing the felonious crime during police preliminary investigation.
He is alleged to have forced the 11-year-old minor into his room, stuffed bedsheet in her mouth and sexually abused her at about 11Pm, according to Karneh.
When contacted, two friends of the rape victim between the ages of 13 and 15, claimed that the suspect has always molested children in the community.