BELMOPAN, Thurs. Aug. 15, 2019– Two residents of Belmopan who have been accused of raping a woman who had gone to a party at a house in the Tiger Town area of Belmopan were remanded to prison after they were arraigned on the charge of rape at the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Wednesday, August 14.
Belmopan police investigating the allegation of rape by the woman said that she told them that the incident occurred in a bedroom at a house where she had gone with one of the accused men.
Police charged Denzel Usher, 21, and Devin “DJ” Peyrefitte, 23, with rape.
Rape is an indictable offense and can only be heard at the Supreme Court.
The woman told police that she got into a conversation about music with one of her alleged attackers and because the music was loud, she and the man went into a bedroom to continue the conversation.
Once they were inside the room, the woman alleged, the man assaulted her and proceeded to rape her.
According to the woman, her ordeal for the night was not over yet, because another man entered the room and he, too, raped her.
The woman said she was able to escape and when a friend saw her, the friend took her to the Western Regional Hospital.
The woman reportedly gave a statement to a woman police officer and requested court action.
The families of both accused men are disputing the allegation of rape; they are contending that the woman consented to the sexual intercourse, 7News reported last night.
Discussion of the incident has been taking place on Facebook, and those discussions have prompted attorney Audrey Matura to write a letter on behalf of the alleged victim, claiming that she is being further victimized because the details of the report that she gave to police have been leaked on social media. She said that police had no right to release details of the alleged rape given to them by the woman.
This evening, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams weighed in and promised appropriate action against the leaker of the statement made by the alleged rape victim.
Breaking Belize News quoted Commissioner Williams as saying, “No police has the right to release the statement of a complaint, moreover, of this nature. This is tantamount to re-victimizing the victim. That said, we are doing our best to identify the officer who is responsible for this grave breach of confidence, and once identified, I assure you that appropriate action will be taken.”
Under the law dealing with rape, the least bit of penetration against a person’s will is considered rape.
The two accused men are due back in court in October.