By P. Lincoln Nyanrue, Jr., [email protected]
Civil society groups in Grand Gedeh County have begun speaking out against the alleged raping of a 13-year fellow Grand Gedean minor. Members of Grand Gedeh County Civil Society Organizations have strongly condemned the alleged rape case allegedly committed by Representative Morias Tarwoe Waylee of electoral District #2.
The condemnation by the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of the rape case comes six days after Rep. Waylee was arrested, charged with four crimes and sent to court to face the law. Waylee was charged with “Conspiracy”, “Tempering with Criminal Investigation”, “Tempering with Witnesses” and “Kidnapping”, all of which are bailable offenses.
While the mother and other relatives are shielding the rape victim from investigators from the Ministry of Gender, Women and Children Protection and the Liberia National Police, the CSOs in Grand Gedeh say the facts should be validated and the law should take its course.
The Head of the National Civil Society Council-Grand Gedeh County Chapter Mr. J. Garley Marhn, speaking to groove 106FM in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, said this issue has since drawn their attention and that they have developed keen interest in the factors associated with the case.
He talked about the distance of the case from the County, although people involved are Grand Gedeans, the authentication and the legal implications involved.
Mahn, who is also the Executive Director of “AMUWULU-Forum Inc.” in Zwedru, said upon hearing about the alleged rape incident, he contacted Rep. Waylee, but the lawmaker denied the allegation. He Waylee told him that it was a way of damaging his character as a high profile person.
The rape victim is believed to the niece of the representative. She was staying with Waylee and his wife Welliet (Welleh) in Monrovia and going to school. But Waylee’s driver, identified as Saylee Barway, aleted a local newspaper, but he has gone underground since the case heightened. Police Deputy Commissioner Sam Collins told Groove 106FM that the driver was in fact the father of the rape victim.
The girl is being shielded away deep in the forest region of Billibo, in the Glio/Twarbo Administrative District. The mother of the victim is the person denying journalists and other state investigators from having access to the little girl.
Sources in the area have hinted Groove 106FM that the rape survivor is still sick with the Fistula disease. He baby is said to be in poor heath. In fact, one woman in Zwedru to our Editor-in-Chief that the rape victim has been crossed over into Ivory Coast to further shield her from public view. This information is yet to be determined independently.
Despite Waylee’s denier, the Civil Society Organizations in Zwedru are taking the issue to another level. They say they condemned the act of raping a 13-year old in the strongest possible term. But they want government of Liberia to do more fact finding in proceeding with the case in a timely manner or else let the representative have his free will. Many believe this comment by the society is lukewarm and does show a wavering position on their part.
Mr. Garley Marhn said if the judiciary decides the case fairly – either guilty or non-guilty against representative Waylee – it shall serve as a deterrent to would-be sexual predators.
