Jamaica police are investigating the gruesome murder of a 10-year-old school child, whose partially nude body was found with her throat slashed on a dirt track in bushes in Tyre district near Troy, Trelawny, northwest of here on Tuesday night.
The authorities have identified her as Shanai Coke, otherwise called ‘Kaidra’, a Troy Primary student.
The police are also investigating the death of Delroy Clarke, killed after a mob attacked him and his father following the discovery of the child’s body. The father’s condition is not known.
Residents have accused Clarke of raping and killing the child.
One resident told the Jamaica Observer newspaper that ‘a farmer went to look for his cow when he stumbled on the little girl’s body’.
Meanwhile, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Wednesday condemned the killing saying it is horrified and deeply saddened.
In a statement, the CPFSA said the murder is a painful reminder that too many of Jamaica’s children continue to fall victim to horrific acts of violence perpetrated by adults who should be protecting them.
‘There are simply no words that can lessen the pain of this tragedy. This 10-year-old child should have been given the opportunity to fulfil her dreams; her parents should have been given the chance to see her graduate from primary school, from university, to see her walk down the aisle,’ said CPFSA chief executive officer, Laurette Adams Thomas.
:Instead, she was made to become a statistic, another victim of unspeakable violence. We cannot continue to accept these horrific acts as a normal part of our society. Every time a child is abused or murdered, we fail in our collective duty to protect those who depend on us most,’ she added.