Prosecution demands three years in prison

Son of former minister on trial:

The prosecutor on Monday demanded that Riaaz K, son of former minister Roline Samsoedien, be put behind bars at the state penitentiary for the next three years. The prosecutor also demanded a fine of SRD 20,000 or an additional 3 months in prison.

District Attorney Shanta Mahadew told the court that it had been proven that the defendant had taken the victim without her parents’ consent and that he had also committed a sex crime on March 27. The parents reportedly pressed charges against Riaaz K the next day. Mahadew pointed out that the man had pulled over to buy fruit from the girl but that he then took her to go and cut grass. Mahadew also pointed out that the underage girl claimed that Riaaz K had committed sexual acts with her in his car that was parked at an uninhabited part of the street. The district attorney made it clear that the victim was very consistent and that she had given a detailed description of everything that had happened in the car. The girl’s hymen is reportedly still intact.

Defense attorneys Irene Lalji and Murwin Dubois asked the court to deem the abduction case against their client inadmissible and to acquit the man of all the other charges against him. Lalji pointed out that the victim could not answer certain questions when she took the witness stand. She also pointed out that Riaaz K had fully cooperated when investigators wanted his DNA. The girl’s father had given the police the girl’s clothes. But the clothes did not contain any DNA of the defendant. Lalji pointed out that the sperm that is on the victim’s clothes does not belong to her client. “So who does it belong to? How is it possible that people believe half of the girl’s concoction and for them to ignore the DNA evidence? The DNA evidence is the ultimate evidence that is very reliable. Somebody else was busy with the child. Not even the girl’s mother knew her whereabouts for 3 hours. This is not a judicial case but a political one. My client is being ridiculed and insulted because of the allegations. His fellow detainees see him as a pedophile and blackmail him because they think that he is filthy rich because of his mother. This is not a fair trial,” said Lalji. The defendant who has been in jail for the past three months is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.