Source: Front Page Africa
Ma Mary sits at the back of her Battery Factory residence, head slightly leaning on one side resting on her hands. The mother of two of the girls currently in police custody, is cannot come to terms with the news that her little girls had just been screened in a pornographic video by a 43-year-old Lebanese man.

She narrates the story of how she received the dreadful news from officers of the Liberia National Police when they came knocking on her doors to take the girls to the police station.

“Saturday the police people came here. When they came, my own of children them they take them. That’s how I followed them and went to central.

“After the thing happened, day before yesterday, which was on Friday the people that came from the police station, say they witnessed the video and they saw my children inside it.”

Ma Mary’s children ages fourteen and eight, are among many other children who Jaafar Bashir, a Lebanese national had allegedly been sexually abusing while at the same time videotaping his action.  Bashir has been involved in the raping the young Liberian children within the age range of 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15 according to the police.

The mother of the two girls told FrontPageAfrica that when she received the news from the police she could not believe it at but when reality finally sunk in, she pleaded with her children to tell her the truth.

“I said you ‘all tell me if that man did anything to you ‘all, they but the denied it. Later on I say when you’ll don’t tell me the truth I will do bad to you ‘all.

“That’s how they said yes mama that true the man do it to us. I asked them why they didn’t tell me? They said the man said ‘if we tell anybody he will kill us’.”

Ma Mary said the police questioned her and her children about how they came to know Bashir and they narrated the story about how he lured them into the evil act. She said she told the police that Bashir had been friends with her late husband.

“He was my late husband’s friend, because he sells tires and my late husband had a tire shop.  My husband used to take goods from him to sell and give the money later,” she said.

She said the alleged serial rapist who the police say is currently at the South Beach Prison also used to visit the family when her husband was still alive. The mother said she was in a terrible state of shock and disbelief at what Bashir did to her children adding that he used money to lure them but she did not know.

“That’s how we know the man but we didn’t know that the type of thing he was doing. I’m feeling very bad because I was not expecting that man to do this type of thing to his own friend’s children. And then he used to come here and laugh with us,” she said.

“We just thought he liked children, so our minds did not go to such a thing. When he used to give them money they never use to show it to us.”

The police said it acquired a writ of search and seizure through the office of the County Attorney for Montserrado County based on a tipoff it received before moving in on Bashir and arresting him.

In Battery factory where Bashir runs his Xpert Garage people seem unwilling to speak about the issue for fear of being stigmatized but as the days go by some are getting over the hock and opening up to the press.

“On Saturday we recognized three and they admitted and were turned over to the police,” said Mongedeh Lincoln Community Chairman for the Battery Factory area in an interview Monday with FrontPageAfrica.

“We were invited at the Liberia Nation Police headquarters to see the videos of Jaafar and the children. And through the video we were able to at least identify some of these children.”

Lincoln said the entire community was shocked by the report that the Lebanese businessman who had lived in the community for years would prey on little children and there was no excuse for his action. He said Bashir took advantage of the children’s families’ economic status to exploit them.

“In this community people see him like a man who is care and loves children. As he got around the children little by little they started trusting him,” he said.

“He was successful in inviting one of them he had something to do with her and she too started carrying other children to him. Presently she should be fourteen years old.”

Anger at Lebanese

Bashir’s action has exposed the Lebanese Community in the area to public indignation as expressed by Lincoln and if the situation is not managed well there could be backlash. Lincoln believes that the Lebanese in the area use their wealth to sexually exploit young girls.

“We don’t need these Lebanese in our community because they are of no help. Last night at 7:50 supermarket right on the road the other one used his security to call a fourteen year old girl,” he said.

Continued Lincoln: “When the girl went to the security, he said that white man call you. She went there and he asked her to have sex with him for 50 US dollars. She made noise and people came and called the police. We don’t need them here because they all involve in that kind of business. And if they stay here they will spoil our future.”

 

Bashir’s action has exposed the Lebanese Community in the area to public indignation as expressed by Lincoln and if the situation is not managed well there could be backlash. Lincoln believes that the Lebanese in the area use their wealth to sexually exploit young girls.
The community chair said the people of Battery Factory are disappointed in the action of the serial rapist who instead of helping the community decided to sexually exploit its very young girls.

“Everybody in this community feeling very bad and vex with that witchcraft. We are very discouraged to see people who came here with the intention of helping our community abusing our children and raping babies. All the video I saw no child had breast,” he said.

Lincoln said the accused had been involved in the act over a long period and many parents in the area now fear for the safety of the children even though the police claim to have sent the alleged culprit to jail.

“I want to believe this thing started about a year or two ago, the children on the video some of them are bigger than they were on the video. Everybody in this community is upset,” said Lincoln.

“We don’t want to see even a white man least to talk about Lebanese. We are too hurt. We don’t know whose child will be on the next video.”

He said the community will be following the case to ensure that fair-play and justice prevails.

“We are following up the case. Even the day he will be appearing we will be there as community dwellers. We will be there in numbers with our placards so how we can raise concern to government,” he said.

“We are having meetings in the community about this thing.  We expect our representative Saah Joseph to come because this is no secret and in affects the people he represents.”

Lincoln is urging the community to cooperate with the police to help with the gathering of evidence against the culprit and also so children victimized can get the needed medical help.

“We told our issue to make their children available so that they can go to the police station,” he said.

“… So that the police can ask them and if they were victimized by Jaafar so that they can get treatment as soon as possible; because we don’t know his medical status.”

Meanwhile the head of the World Lebanese Cultural Union, Mr. Ezzat Eid, in an interview with FrontPageAfrica on Sunday, said his community was in full support of the rule regarding Bashir.

“We distance ourselves and we condemn strongly this alleged act. The only position we are taking is that if he is found guilty he must bear the weight of the Liberian law,” he said.

“We are all under the umbrella of the Liberian law and we have to abide by the Liberian laws. We all will work together to make sure he has a speedy trial and if he is found guilty, he must bear the full weight of the Liberian law.”

Charged for rape
Meanwhile Bashir has been charged by the Monrovia City Court with statutory rape, endangering the welfare and interfering with the custody of children will now be tried by the Rape Court.

The case of Defendant Bashir, who was officially charged by the court on Monday, was immediately transferred to Criminal Court “E” which is responsible for all rape cases after a brief argument before Stipendiary Magistrate Attorney Benjamin Darpoh.

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