By Iva Wharton
“Inaction is not an option.”
That was the message from Bonita Montaque, founder and CEO of the United Bridge Builders Mission, as she added her voice to calls for Deputy Commissioner of Police Fazil Karimbaksh to be sent on administrative leave to facilitate an investigation into allegations of rape and threats made against him by a female police officer.
During an interview with Capitol News, Montaque, a former member of the Guyana Police Force, said the allegations are serious and must be properly investigated. She noted that she trained in the Force at the same time as Karimbaksh.
She said that, under normal circumstances, police procedure would see an officer step aside while such a matter is investigated.
“Under normal circumstances, the standing order would afford him his exit so that a proper investigation can be conducted. You cannot be in the same environment and investigate a serious matter like this,” she said. “It’s not a case where this is just hearsay. There is a police report.”
Montaque stressed that Karimbaksh is entitled to due process.
“While we are asking for a thorough investigation, we understand that he is innocent until proven guilty. But we are calling for a thorough investigation, and we want to know who are the people on the investigating team,” she said.
She also questioned what measures are in place to protect the complainant.
Montaque further criticised Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond’s reference to a “formal confrontation” between the complainant and the accused. She noted that the Sexual Offences Act protects complainants from having to recount their complaint in the presence of the accused, unless they choose to do so.
However, in a statement, Minister Walrond rejected suggestions that she had called for a confrontation.
“I did not say that the complainant would be confronted by the accused. I did not mandate such a confrontation,” the Minister said, adding that she has issued no instruction directing investigators to act contrary to the Sexual Offences Act.
Walrond said she was relaying information provided to her about the investigative process, and that the complainant is entitled to the full protection of the law. The Minister has also previously stated that, in her view, Karimbaksh should be placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
Karimbaksh has not publicly responded to the allegations.