Activists in Guyana staged a demonstration outside the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions urging the release of a fifteen-year-old girl charged with murder after a horrific fire at the Mahdia Secondary School girls’ dormitory on May 21 killed 20 students.
Investigators allege the teenager set the blaze after school officials confiscated her mobile telephone.
A Guyana Magistrate remanded her in custody at a juvenile facility when the youngster appeared in court, which adjourned the matter to July 4.
Women’s activist Wintress Whyte believes the authorities should release the young accused and give her counselling.
“Let us examine the facts and see who is to be charged here. Who is guilty of this crime?” Whyte told local reporters.
Firefighters said they entered the burning school dormitory by breaking holes in the wall after encountering ‘heavily barred’ windows and locked doors.
“How could we say education is free when we locking up children to learn?” Whyte declared.
She was part of a demonstration involving other activists and concerned citizens calling for adults to be held accountable for the Mahdia fire.
Activist Vidyaratha Kisoon told reporters that the call for the release of the teenage accused was in no way an attempt to deny justice for the families of the fire victims.
Kisoon explained that in cases of children in conflict with the law, the 2023 approach is to provide counselling and rehabilitation and investigate what is happening in the community.
On Monday, there was also a demonstration outside the Office of the President in Georgetown, the capital.
The small group called for the Amerindian Affairs, Education, Local Government, and Regional Development and Home Affairs ministers to resign.
Free the school girl but arest the ACTIVISTS because someone has to pay for murdering 20 students and still counting!!
I’m sorry but she didn’t just kill one child, she killed TWENTY!!!….So far……. as one of the many grieving parents, I would never be okay with her just getting counseling..NEVER!
@ Lucian Nice. I couldn’t agree more.
@lucian nice lmafaoooooo🤣🤣🤣🤣I agree
They will kill her if she goes free..let’s be very clear about that…
Guyana isn’t exactly the role model in statistics on violent if not deadly domestic incidents…chopping…stabbing….love suicides….so leave her where she is until she is of age to be prosecuted…. unfortunately….her life is over…if the court has to follow the evidence and count every manslaughter charge….perhaps they can plea that the intention wasn’t to mame… but the result was indeed that..
This is truly appalling for the activist calling for releasing this your girl. She has committed a horrendorous crime. That claimed the lives of so many innocent children like herself because she refused to listen to the commands of the teachers that her parents entrusted her to. This according to what i read is not the first time she was spoken to and had her phone confiscared. I’m sure she was given endless counseling for her actions, cause it appears she does like to be corrected. She should have be suspended the very first time. She even said that she was going to commit the act. Which is premeditated. So because her phone was taken away give her the right to burn down the dormitory. Knowing fully well what was going to happen to her and the other students. Now she need to feel the wrath of her actions. Stop talking and doing crap these activist. Instead look to support the rest of children that are alive, and their family.
You did the crime up pay the Time she needs to learn a life lesson
I guess some of you commentators only read half of the article or you’ll have low comprehension. The ppl are saying heads must roll in the various ministries responsible for the school dormitory. Because if the fire was started by some other source the result would of been the same. Grilled windows, no emergency exit, no smoke alarm, no sprinklers etc,etc. Only in the Caribbean those responsible can escape.
If it was a male student, not one activist would show up. They can hush up. Lock she up. She did the crime, do the time
She needs to be charged. 15 years old is not a child – she knows right from wrong. And YES charge those responsible for their dodgy safety standards, but they are not calculated murderers. Those activists are plain ridiculous and way out of line!
Only if the children of these activists were victims in the fire that I would give them a hearing. Otherwise not interested!