Joint Services accused of .... Attempt to sexually assault teen - He tell me bend over and tek off mi panty The modus operandi of ranks on the current Joint Services raid to recover guns missing from the army and for any illegal substance is again being called into question, despite a recent call from the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, President Bharrat Jagdeo, for the ranks to respect the rights of people. Two girls, aged 16 and 18, who are close friends, told Kaieteur News yesterday that they were confronted by three jeep-loads of Joint Services ranks that swooped down on Broad Street , Charlestown , just outside their home on May 13, a day before Mother's Day. The two girls reside at the same house, where two families share a two-storeyed domicile. The 18-year-old girl, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalled that when the ranks showed up at about 23:30hrs there were several people on the street. She added that the ranks then told a young man to jump the fence to retrieve what was believed to be marijuana suspected to have been tossed over a fence as the ranks approached. The girl recounted that a Guyana Defence Force rank then told her to walk and took her with gun in hand through an alley leading to the girls' house. “I started to get scared when he asked me to walk through the alley because it dark,” the18-year-old said. She added that a short distance from the house, the rank told her to stop. “He tell me fuh stop, and when I look around, I see he with a big gun pointing it at me. He tell me bend over and tek off mi panty, and I started to do wha he seh because he had a gun,” the girl recounted. A big gun pointing it at me. He tell me bend over and tek off mi panty   The girl's friend who was left on the streets told Kaieteur News that she began to worry for her friend. She recalled that after some time had passed a police rank told her to take him to her home. She added that she led the rank through the alley to the house where she encountered the GDF rank and her friend. She then stated that the two ranks then took them upstairs and told them to take off the lights and the television set. “Dem tell we tek off de lights, but when they start to shout on we, me mother wake up and started to ask questions,” the 16-year-old recounted. The girls said the ranks related to the mother that they had seen the girls outside and they were just returning them to their home. The girls added that the ranks later left. Recounting how lucky they were, the 18-year-old said that if the police rank and her friend did not show up, she might have been raped. “I am certain that soldier woulda tek wha he want if my friend and de policeman didn't show up, because when they appear he started to push me as if I did not want to move. I even begged him to leave me alone because I have somebody and I am pregnant,” she said. Both girls shared the belief that the mother who got up as the men attempted to get their way in the house saved them. “I could not eat for days because that night I came close to being raped,” one of the girls stated. The 16-year-old said the next day she was so scared that she did not get her mother a gift for Mother's Day, and did not even know how to tell her what had happened. Both girls said they later told their families, who related that the police would not bother to investigate their claims, and so have not made a report to the police. Kaieteur News understands that a man who lived nearby and who sported dreadlocks also had a dreadful encounter with the ranks that same night. Several residents confirmed to Kaieteur News that the man had his hair shaved off by one of the ranks because the ranks felt his hair was smelly. As fate would have it the girls said they later saw the GDF rank who was on patrol that dreaded night. “He came back here on another raid, and when we confront he, he mek it a laugh with another rank and he say how is not he,” one of the girls stated. When contacted last night, a senior GDF officer told Kaieteur News that if indeed such an incident had occurred it was very unprofessional of the ranks on patrol. “We hold our ranks to the highest degree of professionalism,” the GDF officer said. He added that the ranks on patrol are not above the law. The officer later expressed the desire to meet with the girls but only after a report was made to the police. Sunday June 25, 2005