Monrovia – The President of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) is encouraging the family of the 13-year-old who had a baby after she was allegedly raped by Rep. Morais Waylee, to report the case to Police.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
“No one is above the law and at the appropriate time if they are supposed to go to court, they will go, but first the family must come forth and confide in us,’’ said AFELL President, Attorney Vivian Neal.
In May, FrontPageAfrica quoting family sources reported that Waylee, who represents Grand Gedeh District #2, had sex with the teenager when she lived with him at his home in Kings Farm.
Madam Neal said she was saddened by the wave of rape cases in Liberia.
FrontPageAfrica traveled to Grand Gedeh two weeks ago to find the teenager.
The teen refused to talk about what happened to her because her parents ordered her not to talk to strangers.
Without the family’s complaint or the victim’s testimony, it will be difficult to prosecute the case, Neal said.
“It’s an allegation and we hope that the complainant and the victim can come forth,” she said.
“Rape is an evil crime and those unscrupulous people should be brought to justice because it has the propensity to leave the psychological wound in the mind of the victim,” Neal said.
Rapists who are caught should not be allowed to roam the streets, she said.
AFELL puts a lot of pressure on the government to prosecute rape cases, especially when the victims “confide in us.’’
“We help the Ministry of Justice to prosecute, and this is what we want the 13-year-old’s family to do,’’ she said.
Prosecutors, she said, cannot proceed without a defendant and complainant. If the parents come forward, AFELL will help take the case to court, she said.
“Let the parents come forward,’’ she said.
‘’We encourage them to come. We can’t take the case to court without a complainant.”
Authorities, she said, cannot force Waylee to bring the girl because he would be incriminating himself.
“You can’t ask somebody to incriminate themselves, it is unconstitutional,’’ she said.
“We can’t ask him to bring the girl forward, the parents must come forth and we will be to the forefront of the case.”
The state needs a prime witness to prosecute, she said.
“We encourage them because we want to discourage people who compromise cases,’’ Neal said. “Rape is not a taboo anymore, perpetrators shouldn’t go without punishment.’’
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