– As police forward woman to court
By G Bennie Bravo Johnson I
A 23-year-old woman identified as Annie Blessing Morris, who reportedly conjoined with two males only identified as Bucky Raw and Big Dog to gang rape a 19-year-old woman in Clara Town, has been charged with “gang rape” and sent to court.
On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, the Liberia National Police, through the Division of Women and Children Protection, charged defendant Annie Blessing Morris with the commission of the crime of “gang rape,” which is in violation of Section 14.70 (2) of the New Rape Law of Liberia.
According to the police charge sheet and in an interview with the victim, she narrated that on Friday, March 31, 2023, she met defendant Annie Blessing Morris at a shop identified as Janet Spot to buy mosquito coils and soft drinks, at which time defendant Annie Blessing Morris asked the survivor to spend the night with her (Annie Blessing Morris) in the shop because she was afraid.
As disclosed by the survivor, she was informed by Annie Blessing Morris that she was requested by the shop’s owner to take care of the place for a few days because she (the shop owner) went to attend funeral arrangements in Grand Cape Mount County.
Because of the reason given, the survivor noted that she agreed to spend the night with defendant Annie Blessing Morris in the shop.
The survivor averred that while they were in the shop, some men were playing checkers in the shop, and after they left the shop, defendant Annie Blessing Morris along with Bucky Raw and Big Dog remained in the shop.
She further explained that while they were in the shop, defendant Annie Blessing Morris and the alleged perpetrators (Bucky Raw and Big Dog) gave her an alcoholic drink (Kalawo), which she drank three bottles of because Annie Blessing Morris deceived her that it was a soft drink.
According to the police charge sheet, the survivor, whose name is withheld, narrated that upon being made tipsy, she visited the bathroom to vomit, but while in the bathroom, Annie Blessing Morris went to check on her, and when she noticed that the survivor was helpless, she (Annie Blessing Morris) dragged her inside the room and told Bucky Raw and Big-Dog that she had finished with their woman, and then she (defendant Annie Blessing Morris) sat her in the chair.
Revealing accounts from the next morning, April 1, 2023, the survivor said she saw herself lying in front of Janet naked.
Meanwhile, the medical report of the victim obtained from the Star of the Sea, the sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) one-stop center, revealed there had been lacerations on the hymen of the victim’s vagina.
