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KINGSTON, Jamaica, July 12, (CMC) – Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, says his administration “will do whatever we can to deal with these gruesome and indecent acts”, as police announced they had detained a person in connection with the murder of a three-year-old girl, last Sunday.
Holness said he held talks with Police Commissioner, Dr. Karl Williams, who assured him that all is being done to bring the killer, or killers, of the child to justice.
“The government is clear and adamant that we will do whatever we can to deal with these gruesome and indecent acts, especially against our women and children. This is a sincere commitment by myself and our cabinet. I understand that good progress is being made in the investigation, and I believe this is one case where the perpetrator, or perpetrators, will not get away,” Holness said.
Police said Alexus Newland, otherwise called ‘Dal Dal’, whom they had named as a person of interest in relation to the murder of three-year-old Nevalisia Campbell, had been detained, on Monday.
The authorities had given him a 5.00 pm deadline on Monday, to turn himself in to the Browns Town Police in St. Ann.
Opposition Leader, Portia Simpson Miller, had earlier noted that “Jamaicans must be particularly incensed that children continue to be among the victims of vile and senseless murders”.
Police have also detained the mother and stepfather of the three-year-old girl, following allegations that the child and her twin brother were left at home alone, when the little girl was snatched from her bed, between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Her body was found with chop wounds. Police said residents alleged that the children’s mother was seen at a party on the same night that the child was believed to have gone missing.
According to the police, the mother and her lover could be charged with breaches of the Child Care Protection Act.
Holness said that the Minister of Gender Affairs, Olivia Grange, will make a statement to Parliament, today, on issues related to gender-based violence.
“Minister Grange will be updating the nation on the delayed Joint Select Committee to recommend amendments to the Offences Against the Person Act, the Sexual Offences Act, the Domestic Violence Act and The Child Care and Protection Act.
“This process was delayed and there has been no meeting since December 2014. We plan to restart that process and finally get these reforms in place,” Holness said, adding “we cannot continue on a path where the most vulnerable are targets”.
“We must enhance penalties to act as deterrents, or as appropriate punishment,” he said, urging all Jamaicans to be parents to all children and to protect children as if they were their own.
