Monday, April 28, 2003

What the Kidnapping Bill entails

On December 5, 2002 the Kidnapping Bill No. 15 of 2002 was presented and introduced in the national assembly for parliamentary debate.
The Bill seeks to introduce statutory form on the common law offence of kidnapping.
Government in an effort to curb the alarming rise in kidnappings that are occurring over the past few months are moving to address the problem in which over 11 persons were kidnapped. Unfortunately three persons kidnapped have lost their lives at the hands of their abductors.

June 25, 02-Three heavily armed men abducted Gem Rodrigues and six-year old son from Let’s Dance studio on Woolford Avenue. She was subsequently released.

October 01, 02-Four armed men with AK-47’s kidnapped businessman Kamal Seebarran from his auto dealer shop on Sheriff Street. A $17.2M was reportedly paid for his release.

October 25, 02 -A goldsmith and his 15-year old daughter were kidnapped. However, they were released a few hours later after a hefty ransom was paid.

October 27, 02 -Caldeo Ganesh was kidnapped and his body was discovered a few days later in Buxton

October 30, 02 -Motilall, a canecutter from Annandale was kidnapped by armed teenagers from Buxton. He was killed the next day; a $20M ransom was demanded.

March 05, 03-Doodnauth Sharma was taken from his Agricola home in which his wife Maria Sharma was shot in the leg. However, Sharma reportedly escaped from his kidnappers who took him into Buxton.

March 22, 03-Felix Walker, businessman of NonPariel was kidnapped by a gang of four armed men. A ransom of $ 50M was asked for his release. However, it was unclear of the amount of money paid, if any was paid.

March 24, 03-Trinidadian Kenrick Baboolall was kidnapped while carrying out works at the Annandale. H e was released after $ 2M was paid.

April 09, 03-Another Trinidadian, known only as Lalchand, called Cuss was kidnapped by gunmen operating near Buxton. His abductors released him about an hour later after collecting a $5M ransom.

April 12, 03-US diplomat Stephen Lesniak was kidnapped from the Lusignan Golf Course and was held captive in Buxton. He was released the following day after an undisclosed amount of money was paid for his release.

April 12, 03-Sixteen-year-old Roy Bell was kidnapped and his kidnappers called his relatives demanding $ 10M. However, two days later his body was found lying under a suitcase at Liliendaal, although $ 1.5M was paid.
Approximately $23.9M was paid out in ransom because in some of the cases the amount of money paid was not disclosed.
However, this does not mean that persons have the right to kidnap someone for their own monetary gains.
Hence, the introduction of the Bill. Clause 14 of the Act emphatically states protection will be given to any person who has information on a kidnapping. Therefore, persons who are aware of any kidnapping plans should feel comfortable in informing the Police of such activities since they will be protected. However, if the informer has committed perjury then the full details of the informer will be disclosed.
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