A Woman Claims She was Raped by a Soldier Near Arenal Checkpoint

Joseph Myvett

There are three disturbing reports of rape from the west in our newscast tonight. We start with the case of a woman in Benque Viejo Del Carmen, who claims that she was sexually assaulted by a man, believed to be a B.D.F. soldier posted at the Arenal checkpoint in that western community. The woman says that she was heading home on the morning of February twenty-third when she was attacked. She got out of a taxi near the checkpoint on the Arenal Road around four a.m. and as she headed home, she was accosted by a man dressed in camouflage fatigue. Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Myvett says that a B.D.F. officer has been detained and that a senior police investigator has been assigned to the case.

ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch

“Shortly before midday, a twenty-five-year-old Belizean woman from Benque Viejo Town visited the station and reported that on yesterday’s date, sometime around four a.m., while she was going to her home on the Arenal Road in Benque Viejo Town, she alighted a taxi in the area just beyond the police checkpoint in that area, where her home is located some two hundred yards away on an off road. And in so doing, she was followed by a male person, who she indicated was in camouflage clothing, who approached her and demanded that she had sex with him. And as a result, he forced himself onto her and thereafter she went home and later came to the station to make the report. An investigation is currently ongoing into this matter. The police have detained one person in relation to this investigation and are speaking to the two other persons who were at the checkpoint working at that point in time. This investigation is being conducted by a senior police investigator. At this point in time, several pieces of evidence have been gathered, which we believe may assist in this investigation.”