Police search for brother-in-law, who is now on the run; uncle arrested for raping and sodomizing girl, 8
Two families – one from Camalote Village in the Cayo District, and the other from Bella Vista in the Stann Creek District, have been devastated by the discovery that a young girl in each family – one 8 years of age, the other 12 – was raped, each by trusted male adults – in one case, the girl’s brother-in-law, in the other, the victim’s uncle.
In Bella Vista, the 44-year-old uncle of an 8-year-old girl was arrested on Friday after being on the run since February 1. However, an intense manhunt conducted by the Independence police forced him to hand himself in at the police station in that village on Friday, where he was immediately charged with carnal knowledge, rape, and an unnatural crime.
Police believe that on top of raping the little girl, he also committed unnatural acts with her. He will be taken to the Independence Magistrate’s Court today, where he will be remanded to the Belize Central Prison until his next court date.
The incident occurred at about 5:00 Saturday afternoon, February 1, in Bella Vista. The girl and her aunt reported to the police that the child went to her aunt’s house to get flour tortillas to eat. When she got inside, her uncle arrived and began kissing her, and after that, he took her into his room, where he raped her. The girl was taken to the Independence Medical Center, where she was examined by a doctor who certified that the girl had been carnally known.
Another girl, 12, from Camalote, was accompanied by her mother to the police, where she reported that she was raped by her brother-in-law, 25, in his home where he lives with her sister at about 6:00 Thursday morning. She reported that her brother-in-law came home and called her to his house, which was in the same yard, and when she went into the house, he took her into the bedroom and raped her.
After the ordeal, he left the house and the child went home and told her mother what had happened.
The child was taken to the San Ignacio Hospital by police, and doctors who examined her certified that she had been carnally known
Police are seeking the brother-in-law, who is believed to have left the village.