Elderly woman raped at Lewis Punnett Home

The granddaughter of a 79-year-old resident of the Lewis Punnett Home at Glen is alleging that last Saturday night, someone raped her grandmother while the woman lay on her bed on the female ward of the home.

The young lady explained that on Sunday morning, she received a call from the Ward Sister at the institution, who told her that something had happened to her grandmother and she should go to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).{{more}}

The Redemption Sharpes resident told SEARCHLIGHT that when she arrived at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at around 2 p.m. Sunday, she saw her grandmother on a bed close to the entrance of the department.

“I asked the nurse what happened, but she didn’t tell me, so I asked my grandmother what happened and she start to cry and say ‘the boy rape me; the boy rape me’ and I started to cry and the nurse kept saying that she couldn’t tell me what happen, I would have to wait on the doctor.”

The woman, who said that she is enraged and sad at the same time, told SEARCHLIGHT that when the doctor arrived and examined her grandmother, she told her that the elderly woman’s vagina had a tear.

“… She called another doctor and he agreed and said it (the vagina) have a reddish spot and a tear,” recalled the young woman.

The police were called in and the upset granddaughter said that she was later able to ascertain from the police officer that a break-in had occured at the Home and it appears that her grandmother was attacked.

“They like they scared to tell us what happened. A police came and she interviewed her and I signed the statement and they sent her out back around 6 p.m. Sunday and they said I can’t go in the ambulance,” said the distraught woman, who noted that her grandmother has been at the home for close to 16 months and celebrated her 79th birthday on March 1.

“Up to now they didn’t give me the full details. I do not like the way they are dealing with it and when my sister called from America, they said call the hospital; they can’t give she the information. How she should call the hospital like a fool? Is them supposed to say what happened.”

The young woman said that although her grandmother’s memory “goes and comes,” she remembers things and when she was questioned by the police, she was able to say where she was originally from and give other details.

“I don’t feel safe about her out there. I am trying to get her moved from there. When I reached at the hospital and I heard about it, it make me feel like I could kill. I feel real sad too right now.”

She said that she wants the public to know what happened, “because I find they slack; because you can’t tell me you have a 79-year-old woman being raped. I went out there and I still haven’t heard anything official from the head nurse.

“My grandmother goes and come, but she know exactly what she felt. The police officer said that she knows what she was saying.”

According to the granddaughter, the alleged attacker threw powder in the elderly woman’s face, while the left side of the woman’s mouth appeared as if she had been struck.

The granddaughter is of the opinion that the alleged perpetrator is familiar with the surroundings.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Luis deShong told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that the matter is still being investigated.

The Lewis Punett Home is a government run institution that caters to the indigent elderly.