Former Princess Hotel employee seeks justice; believes legal system has failed her

By Kurt Campbell

[www.inewsguyana.com] – An 18- year – old former employee (waitress) of Princess Hotel Guyana, who is alleging that she was fondled by the owner of the Princess Casino and Hotel has expressed the belief that the judicial system in Guyana has failed her and went public on Monday (February 3) telling the tale of her January 11, 2014 ordeal.

During a press conference held at the Pegasus Hotel, the teen told reporters that she was personally advised by a woman at the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) Office, who she claimed was the Secretary not to go before the Court since there was no hard evidence and her case will be thrown out.

Her father, who was present with her lamented similar sentiments and said he was particularly displeased with the slothfulness of investigators, and that no one has been arrested in connection with contentions.

The 18 – year – old girl who sat in a chair twitching, claimed up until January 11, she was employed by the entity for the last four months as a waitress.

She said on the night of the 11^th, she was working in the casino where she served the overseas based owner, who was visiting Guyana on business at the time. She told reporters that when she attempted to remove a plate from the table, he touched her breast and attempted to kiss her.

She said her reflex action was to pull away and stay silent and went back to doing her normal rounds. She further stated that she was later approached by one of her male managers, who took her from the Casino in the company of another man to the room of the owner [under the pretense that she was being taken to the other part of the hotel to serve food].

During her ride in the elevator and walk to the man’s room located on the fifth floor of the building, [all of which was caught on tape and reviewed by police and relatives], she claimed the manager kept telling her to do whatever the owner wants her to do and not to serve him cold water. She said she was also told that she would be paid any overtime she had to work and will be sent home in a taxi.

The young woman further explained that upon arriving at the room, the two men left her outside standing and went into the owner’s room, where she heard them speaking in a foreign language. According to her, moments later they came out the room and touched her on the shoulder, as she entered the room and they locked the door from outside.

“When he (the manager) left, the owner who was lying on his bed covering with a sheet asked me to make sure the door is locked properly and I told him that I wanted to use the washroom and I left his room.”

She claimed that she rushed to the bar and told her supervisor what transpired, who then took her to the Human Resource department where she also related what happened. She said she was too traumatized and accepted the offer to go home immediately where she also told her family what happened.

They later made a report to the Providence Police Station, which was later transferred to the Brickdam Police station.

The girl’s father claimed that after the incident took place, he received a telephone call from a Manager at the hotel, who sympathized with him and said how embarrassed he was to hear what happened.

The girl’s father noted that later in the day, they were invited to the hotel where they met a group of investigators. He said they asked several questions of his daughter. According to the man, they also reviewed video footage which revealed that his daughter was taken to the room by the two men “with her empty hands”.

“My question is if she is going to serve why isn’t she with a waiter or anything, just two men like body guards,” the girl’s father questioned.

He said he was even approached by a senior person from the entity to make a proposal on how they could settle the matter and not make it public.

“I feel ugly, there is nothing nice about this, I have three children and six fingers and I work very hard to protect them, I just feel ugly.”

The man said he decided to come to the media because he is simply not pleased with the way it is being handled by the police, the absence of any arrest despite the video footage and the advice given by the secretary of DPP’s Secretary.

“I don’t want to tamper with the work of the police but I didn’t know what else to do.” He said he simply wants the matter to be investigated thoroughly and for justice to be served.