The woman who said she was brutally raped in a graveyard in the Bight, Providenciales by a man posing as a jitney driver, is telling NewslineTCI that she fears for her safety after learning that the accused rapist was granted bail.
The seemingly frightened woman, who revealed that she was still reeling from the incident, while happy that she escaped with her life, said she was forced to be looking over her shoulder, after learning that the alleged culprit was back on the street.
“Something that really worries me is the main suspect is free in bail,” she lamented.
The woman also said she was not happy with the slow pace of the police investigation and would be happy if the investigators would add momentum to their probe.
“They were able to find the suspects the next day (following the rape incident) and they have the car under (sic) custody. I went to recognize it; however, I do not have any other update on it, and the answers I got are empty words that sound more like the case is not being taken care of, or like excuses,” said.
The woman, who is Peruvian, said the authorities in her country were aware of incident, and have taken an interest.
She expressed a desire to be kept abreast of the ongoing investigations in order to know where the case stands.
A few days after the string of sexual assaults by jitney drivers was reported, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands nabbed two suspects they believed to have been involved in at least two of the jitney rape incidents between Saturday, January 15 and Monday, January 17.
The police at the time, in addition to the two men carted off to jail, managed to seize a car said to have belonged to one of the men, and upon which they conducted forensic testing.
“On the night of Saturday, January 15, 2022, a female reported being raped by a man, whom she believed to be a jitney driver. He picked her up from her place of work located in the Bight area and drove her to a nearby cemetery and subjected her to a sexual assault,” the police report said at the time.
The police said a similar incident took place the following Monday, but this time two men carried out the dastardly act.
“On Monday, January 17, 2022, there was a similar report made by a female leaving work from a hotel in Grace Bay.
“On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, Police conducted a targeted operation in the area and stop checked a vehicle matching the description of the one used by the offender.
“The vehicle was seized for forensic examination and the two male occupants were arrested. The investigation continues into these offences,” the police said at the time.
The police too that they were urging other possible victims and those with information to come forward and assist them in with investigation.
“The police would encourage anyone that is the victim of a sexual assault to come forward and report it,” the then news release said.
It added: “We appreciate how difficult this can be, however, please be assured that we have specially trained officers and medical staff here to deal with you sensitively and confidentially. It is important that you receive the required support and that dangerous sex offenders are taken off our streets.”
The police is assuring the public that it is intensively conducting investigations int the allegations.
“Investigations are underway for these incidents. Anyone with information about these or other crimes can call 911 or Crime Stoppers privately at 1-800-8477 (TIPS) Information provided will be treated in the strictest of confidence. All Crime Stoppers calls are answered by Miami Dade Police and no one from the RTCIPF will know who called,” the news release concluded.
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