Police detain suspects in Cayo, Corozal rapes

If your only knowledge of life in Belize came from the news media and our crime coverage you would probably come to the conclusion that Belize is a sick society. And, sad as it seems, that conclusion might not be far off the mark. It is bolstered today by two separate incidents of forcible rape, one in the Cayo district and the other in Corozal. On Wednesday a ten year old girl in Benque Viejo was the victim of a brutal sexual assault. According to police, her father had left to go fishing around ten in the morning while she stayed home caring for two younger siblings. He returned around two only to find his daughter bruised and vomiting. She later told police that she was raped by a Hispanic man wearing a black cap, blue shirt and jeans. Two men have been detained pending further investigations.

In the Corozal assault the seventeen and twelve year old victims tell police that while on their way home to their village two men they knew offered them a ride. Instead of taking them home the men drove the girls to an out of the way area, where they engaged in sex against the girls’ will. The two alleged rapists have been detained by police.