Five years after he was sentenced to serve 23 years’ imprisonment for raping a 20-year-old woman, whom he viciously assaulted during the act, 28-year-old Calvin Ramcharran has gone to the Court of Appeal complaining that his conviction cannot stand, and has asked that same, along with the prison sentence be set aside.
It was in November 2015 that a 12 -person jury found Ramcharran guilty of the offence following a trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the High Court in Demerara. On July 23, 2012, Ramcharran, then 20, engaged in sexual penetration with the young woman without her consent at Soesdyke on the East Bank of Demerara.
Additionally, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment on another charge which stated that on the same day, during the rape, he assaulted the woman, so as to cause her actual bodily harm. At the commencement of his trial, Ramcharran had pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Facts presented in court revealed that on the day in question, the young woman and some friends had gone to a party in the area. While making her way to the washroom, she was approached by Ramcharran, who asked her if she was “doing business.” The young woman replied, “no,” after which Ramcharran grabbed her hands.
A fight ensued between them during which the young man hit her several times to the head with a bottle while dragging her to the back of an unfinished structure. The court was told that the convict then choked and punched his victim to her face, before raping her. After the attack, Ramcharran offered the woman $65,000 and instructed her to meet him on the road in a car.
Instead, the young lady who was stripped of her blouse sought help from persons at the scene who took her for medical attention.
Even after the jury had handed down its verdict, Ramcharran had maintained that he was innocent of the crime.
