Internal investigators await teen’s return to complete airport cavity search probe

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is awaiting the return of the 17-year-old girl who has accused police of conducting a cavity search on her at the Eugene F Correia International Airport, at Ogle, to take statements.

But the girl’s family is disappointed by the internal investigators of the force for not making any effort to contact her abroad.

Police spokesman Jairam Ramlakhan told Stabroek News that the OPR has taken statements from all the other parties involved in the matter and is awaiting the return of the victim, who had left for a 21-day vacation.

He noted that the victim’s statement is the only piece of information investigators are awaiting in order to wrap up the probe.

Nonetheless, the family believes that investigators should have found a way to reach out to the girl.

“If a crime was committed from our side, they would have find a way to get to us. The police force can easily contact us but instead of that they choose to ignore the young, innocent woman. We are very disappointed,” an aunt told Stabroek News.

The teenager has said she was subjected to a cavity search as she was preparing to board a flight for Barbados.

The teen said she was singled out for a search by a female rank from the Police Narcotics Branch as she stood in a line of passengers who were preparing to board.

“When I went into the room I started to take off my clothes because she said it was a strip search. I stayed in my underwear. The officer came in the room and told me to take it off. She then told me to squat and cough three times I did that and she took her finger and inserted it into my private parts,” the teen told this publication in a previous interview.

The teen had said she did not report the search to anyone in authority in Guyana but immediately informed her aunt, who picked her up at the airport in Barbados.

The young woman said she is seeking a public apology from the agency and the officer and she would not allow the matter to go away as she believes “it should never happen again to any woman….”

The teen’s aunt had said that the girl was receiving counselling following the traumatic experience.