Death of 11-y-o girl and ‘the failure of Guyana Police System’

by Imran Bacchus

Recently, the entire country of Guyana united in sadness and outrage after an 11-year-old girl was found dead in a hotel swimming pool under suspicious circumstances. There have been questions about the initial handling of the girl’s disappearance by the police, with some accusing them of collusion and lack of integrity.

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, Adrianna Younge visited the Double Day Hotel in Essequibo, Guyana for a leisure outing with her grandmother and siblings. After losing sight of the girl, the grandmother tried determining her whereabouts by asking the hotel staff to  check their CCTV footage. She was denied access to the feed, so she and others searched the area, but Adrianna could not be found.

Adriana’s family contacted police, who on arrival at the scene claimed that they had reviewed CCTV footage from nearby premises that showed the child leaving in a motor vehicle. The family was appalled as that was not the usual behaviour of the child. Later that evening, more police arrived on the scene, and a crowd of people, including close relatives and friends, began to gather. The police prevented the family from entering the hotel’s premises and released a statement based on the earlier CCTV footage, claiming that the child had left in a vehicle, despite the parents affirming that the person seen leaving the hotel in the vehicle was not their child.

The story set forth by the Guyana Police Force was inaccurate and false, as the next day, with the relatives and parents on guard at the hotel, the child’s lifeless body mysteriously appeared in the hotel’s pool. It should be underscored that the pool had been searched extensively, and many persons streamed recordings of the pool upon their visit to the scene, which proved that the child was not there.

The father of the child claimed that he intuitively knew that his child was in the building and that the police had allegedly colluded with others to murder his daughter as part of a questionable ritual or sacrifice. His remarks follow other  similar incidents at the hotel over the years, for which the cases were washed out due to insufficient evidence.

The entire region and country erupted in chaos as the story unfolded on social media. In the wake of the discovery of Adrianna’s body, the hotel was burned and other assets belonging to the hotel were destroyed. Google now has the hotel as ‘permanently closed’ on the World Wide Web.

Moreover, the family requested a pathologist from Delaware in the United States to perform the autopsy on the child alongside government-imported pathologists from Barbados and Mount Sanai Hospital in New York. The three pathologists ruled the outcome of death of the child to be caused by drowning without giving any specifics to the media.

Failure to respond correctly

An analysis of the treatment meted out to Adriana’s family shows a lack of transparency, integrity and loyalty on the part of the Guyana Police Force. The police force should protect victims, instead the officers provided falsified information and guarded the premises of the hotel. Considering such actions by the Guyana Police Force, are our children really safe? It is understandable that the world is a dangerous place, but knowing that there are persons who took an oath to ensure your safety should give anyone relief, and that trust should not be sabotaged.

Not so long ago, the US State Department released a report underscoring the existence of corruption and lack of proper ethical standards in the Police Force. For many years, the system that underpinned the Guyana Police Force has been dysfunctional and subjected to bribes by the wealthy, resulting in collusion and improper handling of legislative and judicial matters. Many people agree that had the police’s approach to the situation been unprejudiced, comprehensive, equitable, and had they acted expeditiously, the child may have been saved. The approach taken by the police has resulted in an intensified level of distrust among the wider public. Some people believe that the child was murdered and contend that the police administration betrayed the citizens of the country, in favour of those who are wealthy.

How do we move forward?

The government should consider reforming the police system by exploring the gaps, examining the need for a change in policies and procedures, and amending the structural framework for where transparency might be lacking. It is clear that the system has been struggling for years and has failed to represent justice and the people of the country. Guyanese are frustrated with the system. Many regular citizens have raised complaints about harassment by the police over trivial matters; they therefore should apply the same level of pressure for more serious crimes and issues.

Stringent oversight should be put in place to treat negligence and inefficiencies by the Police Officers. This will help to ensure that they are held accountable for their misconduct. Moreover, a comprehensive review of the system should be done to ascertain that the approaches towards correcting the system are impartial and unbiased. Support from international partners and allies can be sought to bolster and vitalize areas where deficiencies in resources, capacities and competencies persist. Transparency and integrity must be at the forefront of the operations of the Police Force. These are the hallmarks and fundamental principles on which their roles should be based.

Hence, one has to give thought to how we change the narratives when it comes to the police system. How can parents, citizens, and the wider community regain trust and confidence in the Police Force? For too long, the police Force has been marked by deceit and duplicitous behaviour that continues to impair its vision, reputation and mandate.

More importantly, as Guyana emerges as a regional leader in the petroleum industry, it is vital that security, safety and protection be brought to the forefront of instrumental decision making and consideration. At this point, change is not a requirement, it is a MUST! Guyana can be a model and exemplar to other nations. As such, it is time for the leaders and politicians to act.