By Fareeza Haniff
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Following several media reports, Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer has been forced to release the 15 – year – old in the care of her mother, Bridgette Moore.
The mother of nine children told iNews during a telephone interview that her daughter reappeared at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, August 13, where the Magistrate ordered that she be returned in her care and that welfare officers should check on her two times per week.
But while the mother is happy with her daughter’s release, she is peeved at the insults she received in a packed courtroom allegedly by Magistrate Mittelholzer.
The mother claims that the Magistrate verbally abused her and accused her of lying about the circumstances surrounding the arrest and imprisonment of her daughter.
“That lady ain’t know me but if you hear how she rekkin’ fuh me; and when I go to talk, she tell me don’t talk…she tell me all kind ah thing; how me daughter don’t go to school and I does got she travelling with me all hours in the night,” the upset mother told iNews.
After her daughter was in police custody for more than a month, Moore staged a protest action outside the Court of Appeal in Georgetown on Wednesday, August 12, pleading with authorities to intervene.
The teenager has been pushed around between the Whim Police Station and the New Opportunity Corps in Dennis Street, Sophia, Greater Georgetown and then placed in an orphanage which subsequently refused to take her in.
On July 20, iNews had reported that the family of the teenager wanted the relevant authorities to look into their situation with some urgency after the teenager was locked up at the Whim Police Station, Corentyne Berbice for quite some time.
The young lady was placed in custody as a result of a physical altercation she had with another girl. According to reports, the teenager of Rose Hall Town, was attempting to defend her pregnant sister, who came under attack, when the altercation took place.
She was later charged and placed before the Albion Magistrate’s court, where she was remanded to the New Opportunity Corps in Georgetown. She was transported to the facility after more than two weeks of having to sleep in a cell with other prisoners.
On Monday, August 10, the teenager was taken back to the Albion Magistrate’s Court, where Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer ordered that she be placed at an Orphanage in Georgetown since her mother only has a one bedroom house.
The mother, during her protest, told reporters that her daughter was not transported to Georgetown the same day and had to sleep in a cell filled with water at the Whim Police Station.
On Tuesday, she was brought to Georgetown but for reasons unknown at this time, the orphanage refused to accept the teenager. According to the mother, the young lady is experiencing her menstrual cycle and was forced to endure an entire day with the police officers who took her with them to conduct their daily business in the city.
The distraught mother told iNews that her daughter was not given food or even allowed to take a bath; she was taken back to the Whim Police Station where she was forced again to spend the night.
Try living in Palestine so many Poor people what’s the crime rate, in Guyana some people all they know is to rob other people it’s in the Blood can’t stop it.
Bobby I am speaking from the perspective of a retired foster care social worker. I know that the resources available in America are not in Guyana but couldnt the magistrate provide or point this mother obviously with her hands full to were she can access resources however scarce. Instead she displayed a callous authority. We should only look down on a man when picking him up.
well it is not insult what people going through in this country especially when people are poor it the police get money the will not do all this the would have threat the child good that is why people get bad in guyana
I beg to differ Bobby. I agree with Claudeston. If you have the money to have someone take care of your children, good for you. The ones who do not have money, have to do whatever it takes to make sure that their kids are alright, even if it is taking them along at night. In North America, they leave them alone in a house, which is better, to be with your parent or be alone to do whatever you want. Some of us tend to forget where we come from once we have achieved, this magistrate needs counseling herself if that is the way she treats a mother who is trying to do her best with what is available to her.
CLAUDESTON MASSIAH, I BEG TO DIFFER WITH YOU . I SEE THIS MAGISTRATE , NOT AS A “HEARTLESS BEAST PARADING AS AN OFFICER OF THE LAW ” BUT AS A CARING PERSON LOOKING AFTER THE BEST INTEREST OF AN UNFORTUNATE CHILD BROUGHT UP OR DRAGGED UPBY AN IRRESPONSIBLE MOTHER. THE MOTHER , AS YOU CAN SEE , BLAMES EVERYBODY BUT HERSELF FOR THE SITUATION SHE FINDS HERSELF IN … SHE HAS NINE CHILDREN…SHE LIVES IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE….NO MENTION IS MADE OF THE FATHER OF THE CHILD…WHERE IS HE OR THE CHILD’S STEPFATHER ?…….SHE OBJECTS TO THE MAGISTRATE REBUKING HER FOR TAKING THE 15 YEAR OLD WITH HER AT NIGHTS… THE MAGISTRATE COMMITS A TERRIBLE SIN BY SAYING SHE DOESN’T SEND THE CHILD TO SCHOOL….SHE LIES ABOUT THE CHILD SLEEPING IN A CELL FILLED WITH WATER AT THE POLICE STATION…SHE TRIES TO GAIN SYMPATHY BY TALKING ABOUT THE CHILD’S MONTHLY…CLAUDESTON, I WISH THIS CHILD ALL THE BEST, BUT WITH A MOTHER LIKE THAT , I FEAR SHE IS DOOMED.
Good. What role has Red Thread, if any, played in this child’s release?
Being poor and uninformed could amount to an almost insurmountable hill. If this mother was a member of the upper class with a certain address and a bulging bank account her daughter would not have been treated like yesterdays trash or abused by the magistrate and the system. Poverty in Guyana is almost tantamount to a death sentence except for the privileged and connected. She should be encouraged to report this heartless beast parading as an officer of the law responsible for dispensing justice. The treatment of this mother and her daughter is beyond reprehensible it makes one mad as hell. I pray that some Guyanese with a heart lend them the needed assistance to hold those responsible accountable. This young girls treatment reminds me of the horrors a young woman from Guyana endured at the hands of Barbadian immigration authorities a few years ago. This family needs representation urgently. This should not die a natural death and be swept under the rug.