[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) says that its statistics indicate that there has been a 70% increase in the amount of rape cases being reported to the police.
The report comes against the backdrop that rape cases in Guyana generally go unreported with victims being afraid to come out and report their ordeal. However, the concern remains as to whether the perpetrators will be convicted since Guyana has a very low conviction rate for sexual offences.
Statistics also revealed that a 6% increase in serious crime has been recorded for this year unto May 18 in comparison to the same period in 2014.
“The serious crimes include murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape and kidnapping.60 murders have been recorded for this year unto May 18, 2015, in comparison to 56 for the similar period last year, an increase of 7%,” a police report stated.
It was also noted that robbery under arms overall has decreased by 15% in comparison to the same period in 2014.
The statistics indicate an 18% decrease in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms and an 11% decrease in armed robbery where instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators.
