Crown urged to pursue charges in alleged rape at UBC Halloween frat party
Posted August 11, 2020 11:06 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Vancouver Rape Relief is urging the B.C. Prosecution Service to press charges against a man accused of raping a teenage girl at a Halloween frat party in 2018.
The local advocacy group wants Crown Counsel to approve charges in a case involving the girl, who was 16 at the time and allegedly assaulted while intoxicated at a party at UBC that October.
The group claims in April of this year, UBC RCMP told the victim’s mother Crown wasn’t going to lay charges because investigators didn’t have enough evidence, despite a statement from the teen girl, testimony about her intoxication from a friend, and hospital documentation of the injuries sustained during the alleged assault.
Vancouver Rape Relief Urges Crown to Press Charges Against a Man Who Raped a 16-year-old Girl @jillreports https://t.co/n4jfblEyZ6
— VancouverRapeRelief (@VanRapeRelief) August 11, 2020
“Our system did not provide me the justice I deserve,” she said. “I did everything right. I was forced to grow up really fast. After pushing the haunting memories to the back of my head, I was able to file my complaint with the RCMP. I was told that Crown Council and the RCMP believed me, but that wasn’t ‘going to be enough’. ”
As a result, the organization has sent a complaint letter to the Richmond Administrative Crown Counsel, urging prosecution of an adult male student from another post-secondary institution in the Lower Mainland.
“Instances like these further discourage women and girls from reporting and reinforces their mistrust in the justice system. When so many cases get dropped by Crown Counsel, this reinforces to men that the violence they committed will not be upheld by the law and that women will not be protected from their violent crimes,” Sonam Khangura, a rape crisis center worker at Vancouver Rape relief and Women’s Shelter, says in a release.
The teen girl’s mother said she’s devestated by what she described as an injustice by the justice system.
“A brutal crime was committed to my daughter, which has changed her forever. To be told that the rapist will not be held accountable is a terrible blow to my daughter. This violent attack colours every aspect of our lives and is such an unimaginably heavy load for anyone to carry, let alone someone so young. Yet her rapist is free to live his life as if nothing happened. It is absolutely shameful.”
