Grenada Speaker: Do not forget family of Ariel murder suspect

The Speaker of the House of Representatives in Grenada says the nation should not forget the family of the teenager accused of killing Ariel Bolah.

A 17-year-old boy is in police custody charged with murdering the nine-year-old schoolgirl.

He made his first court appearance last week, and an angry crowd jeered when he was rushed to the police transport afterwards.

Michael Pierre, speaking in the lower house, told parliamentarians that the family of the suspect will have been negatively affected by the crime.

“The parents of the person who is charged, we sometimes forget them,” he said.

“That parent is hurting the same way. Because that parent is losing a child also. And the shame and stigma that will remain would be maybe even harder to bear. So let us not forget them in our prayers.”

Later in the session, Pierre said that young boys should be forgotten in conversations surrounding sexual abuse and violence.

He touched on aspects of male culture in Grenada, something that Franklyn Redhead, acting commissioner of the Royal Grenada Police Force, discussed earlier this month.

“Coming out of this very unfortunate situation, to me certainly in my opinion, what has happened very unfortunate over the weekend is a consequence of a much more deeply embedded problem with our societies,” Rehead said.

“That has to do with the male psyche, the way we are being cultured as a people interns of what it means to be a man, and the whole aspect of violence and a range of factors.

“And unless we address these fundamental issues that are deeply entrenched within our culture I think we’ll see more consequences of that in terms of violence against women, violence against each other and violence in the society.”

The suspect is expected back in court early next month.