JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Friday, August 1, 2025

Defence Force to dismiss officers on rape charge

by

20130122

A sol­dier and a mem­ber of the Air Guard Unit, ac­cused of rap­ing a 14-year-old school­girl in Rio Claro, are to be dis­charged "dis­hon­ourably" from the T&T the De­fence Force. The an­nounce­ment was made in a state­ment on Mon­day night by the civ­il mil­i­tary af­fairs of­fi­cer of the De­fence Force Ma­jor Al Alexan­der.

Alexan­der said the or­der to dis­charge the ser­vice­men came from the Chief of De­fence Staff, Brig Gen Ken­rick Ma­haraj. "Ma­haraj was lu­cid in his in­struc­tions this af­ter­noon, stat­ing that they are to be dis­charged from the De­fence Force with im­me­di­ate ef­fect," Alexan­der said.

The two of­fi­cers, Kurt Bradley Sama­roo, 23, a sol­dier, Chase Kevin Ram­dath, 23, of the Air Guard and his broth­er Chris Brent Ram­dath, 21, a plumber, ap­peared in the Rio Claro Mag­is­trates Court yes­ter­day charged with rape, griev­ous sex­u­al as­sault and de­tain­ing a fe­male to have sex­u­al in­ter­course. They were re­fused bail.

They were ar­rest­ed on Sun­day af­ter the girl re­port­ed the in­ci­dent. Court pros­e­cu­tor Sgt Alex­is Gar­cia ob­ject­ed to bail, say­ing the ac­cused men were not traced. He al­so cit­ed the se­ri­ous­ness of the of­fence. The mag­is­trate de­nied them bail pend­ing a trace and ad­journed the mat­ter to to­mor­row.

Alexan­der's re­lease said the sol­dier was last as­signed to the De­fence Force Head­quar­ters in Ch­aguara­mas. Both of­fi­cers are said to be in their 20s and had less than two years' ser­vice. Alexan­der said the ac­cused ser­vice­men were to be dis­charged by or­der of the Chief of De­fence Staff un­der the pro­vi­sion of the De­fence Act Chap­ter 14:01 "Ser­vice no longer re­quired".

Alexan­der not­ed that af­ter ap­pear­ing in court the ac­cused of­fi­cers will be es­cort­ed to their homes by po­lice and army of­fi­cials. Their homes then will be searched, in their pres­ence, for all De­fence Force sup­plies and uni­forms is­sued to them dur­ing their tenure. ACP Wayne Dick and ASP Neville Sankar led the in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the rape.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Samantha Best dances with Ken Arneaud during a vibrant performance of the band Caribbean New Style from San Andres, Colombia.

Samantha Best dances with Ken Arneaud during a vibrant performance of the band Caribbean New Style from San Andres, Colombia.

MARIELA BRUZUAL

Samantha Best dances with Ken Arneaud during a vibrant performance of the band Caribbean New Style from San Andres, Colombia.

Samantha Best dances with Ken Arneaud during a vibrant performance of the band Caribbean New Style from San Andres, Colombia.

MARIELA BRUZUAL

Colombian Ambassador hails strong ties with T&T

8 hours ago
President Christine Carla Kangaloo, centre, flanked  by, from left,  Mariano Browne, Chief Executive Officer, UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Jearlean John, Minister of Works and Infrastructure, Amy Lazzari, Chief People and Culture Officer, ANSA McAL Ltd. and the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack team.

President Christine Carla Kangaloo, centre, flanked by, from left, Mariano Browne, Chief Executive Officer, UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Jearlean John, Minister of Works and Infrastructure, Amy Lazzari, Chief People and Culture Officer, ANSA McAL Ltd. and the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack team.

President Christine Carla Kangaloo, centre, flanked  by, from left,  Mariano Browne, Chief Executive Officer, UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Jearlean John, Minister of Works and Infrastructure, Amy Lazzari, Chief People and Culture Officer, ANSA McAL Ltd. and the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack team.

President Christine Carla Kangaloo, centre, flanked by, from left, Mariano Browne, Chief Executive Officer, UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Jearlean John, Minister of Works and Infrastructure, Amy Lazzari, Chief People and Culture Officer, ANSA McAL Ltd. and the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack team.

ANSA McAL supports Women in Leadership at UWI-ALJGSB networking event

8 hours ago
Chuck Gordon

Chuck Gordon

Rishi Ragoonath

Chuck Gordon

Chuck Gordon

Rishi Ragoonath

Star-studded tribute to the Mighty Sparrow lights up SAPA

8 hours ago
Dr Justin Sobion is congratulated by his father, the late Keith Sobion, after he was admitted to the Bar on December 10, 2002.

Dr Justin Sobion is congratulated by his father, the late Keith Sobion, after he was admitted to the Bar on December 10, 2002.

Dr Justin Sobion is congratulated by his father, the late Keith Sobion, after he was admitted to the Bar on December 10, 2002.

Dr Justin Sobion is congratulated by his father, the late Keith Sobion, after he was admitted to the Bar on December 10, 2002.

Environmental Law scholar wins prestigious award

Yesterday