As the Guyana Police Force is reeling from the recent death of a man who sustained injuries while in the lockups, another East Coast Demerara resident was allegedly beaten by ranks of the Vigilance Police Station.
Guyana Times understands that Prem Chand of Lot 125 Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, was taken into custody on December 26, 2018, after relatives reported a domestic dispute.
However, two days after, when a woman whom he shared a relationship with went to bail him, three officers took him outside wrapped in a bedsheet.
Navita Chand explained that when she saw the man’s condition, she questioned the ranks as to why they were fetching him like that since he entered the lockups
The sutures on Prem Chand’s head
in good health. At that time, no answer was provided.
“He was behaving bad and I went to Vigilance Police Station and make a report and the Police come and arrest him. I went back, and they said he was on bail and then I see, three Police [lifting] him in a sheet, bringing him out. I asked why is it that he was walking the other day and three of you fetching him and bringing him out. Nobody didn’t answer me,” the woman stated.
After returning home, Prem cried out that his head and back were aching and he was taken to the Woodlands Hospital where several tests showed that a vein his brain had ruptured, and his spinal cord was damaged.
“When I carry he home, he start hollering that he getting pain in his head and back. We decide to carry him at Woodlands Hospital where they do an MRI, showing that he had internal bleeding. He had to do an MRI for the hip, that said he had spinal damage,” she related.
The man, who was visibly in pain, related that on the said day when he was arrested, three officers at the police station asked him to enter the cell to which he told them that he had done nothing wrong. As such, they proceeded to beat him with a gun to his head. He was also kicked and trampled on in the process.
“They put me on the bench and then they said that I got to go in the lockup. I said I didn’t do anything and they start to beat me. They lash me with the gun to my head and I fall down. I hearing their voice and then they stomp me up in my back. After that, I didn’t know myself. When I wake up the next morning in the lockup, I can’t move,” he told Guyana Times.
He explained that after these injuries, he could not walk properly and is being assisted financially by relatives as he was the sole breadwinner of the family. Adding to that, $2,013,000 was spent on medical bills.
This is the second case in the past two weeks where persons were faced with alleged police brutality. The last incident saw 39-year-old Kalicharran Sawak succumbing to injuries sustained while in the Sparendaam lockups a few days ago.
As such, legal advice was sought by both families from Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall. He stated that this is a serious matter and it must be addressed to ensure that persons are not subjected to this type of treatment in the future.
“We have yet another incident of allegations made against the police of brutality and violence being meted out to persons in Police custody…These are serious injuries sustained at the hands of the police and these are serious allegations of criminal and violent actions,” Nandlall said.
He further added that civil proceedings will be filed in the High Court against the State for both matters.
“We have to address this matter in a most emphatic and condign manner. In addition to the civil proceedings to which I’m making reference, we are again calling for an independent, professional and transparent investigation,” he further mentioned.
The Police Complaints Authority will also be briefed on the matter.
Earlier this week, Police Commissioner Leslie James told media operatives that if officers are implicated in the said allegations, they will be sanctioned. He had posited that an independent investigation was launched into the first incident.
“I would be quiet frank, my information is indeed that he was kept, I think, just over the 72 hours period and that is in breach. So of course, wherever the chips fall we will pursue and whoever is responsible will be faced with sanctions,” said the Top Cop.
