An inmate of the New Amsterdam Prison was yesterday morning discovered by prison officials hanging from the ceiling of his cell.
Jarrel Patha, 21, a Surinamese national, according to Director of Prisons Dale Erskine, was admitted to the prison on November 16, 2006 charged with unlawful possession of ammunition.
He was also charged on January 24 this year for escaping from lawful custody when he attempted to escape from prison officers while attending a medical clinic outside the prison. Erskine said in a statement yesterday that on admission Patha’s age was recorded as 21 years, and reports indicated that he had not exhibited suicidal tendencies prior to this tragic incident. The prisons chief said too that the prisoner had last been seen alive in his one-man cell around 05:00hrs yesterday when a security check was made in the confinement area where he was located.
“At 06:20 hrs yesterday during the checking of the prisoners’ tally, the prisoner was found hanging from the ceiling of his cell with a piece of his bedding tied around his neck,” the statement continued.
The police at New Amsterdam station were immediately summoned to investigate the prisoner’s death, an investigation which is still in progress and in which prison personnel were also involved.
However the man’s attorney Murseline Bacchus when contacted by this newspaper yesterday had not yet been made aware of the incident, but said that Patha’s trial had been set for March 2 before Magistrate Chandra Sohan at the New Amsterdam magistrate’s court. Bacchus said his client had been charged with three others with the same offence but he had no idea what had happened to them.
He had managed to secure bail in the sum of $250,000 but Patha had not been aware of this while for his part, he (Bacchus) had not been aware that his client had escaped from lawful custody.
Bacchus went on to tell this newspaper that during his negotiations with Magistrate Sohan he had been told, “While you are busy seeking bail for your client, he is busy escaping.”
When the possession charges were laid against his client, he said, the magistrate had ordered that his passport be lodged with the police, but after the bail was recalled a decision was taken for the travel document to be returned to his family.
Bacchus said in his estimation, “it seemed as though Patha’s case was going nowhere.”
Stabroek News has since learnt that the police were also working on a theory that the Surinamese might have been involved in illegally bringing ammunition to these shores.
Meanwhile, this newspaper was able to make contact with a young woman who said she was Patha’s girlfriend and that prior to his arrest he had come to Guyana regularly to see her. Nesha Sulkar, 19, said that during Patha’s visit he stayed with her at her 82 Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam residence.
Sulkar told this newspaper that before his imprisonment, Patha had been attending an institution equivalent to a technical institute in French Guiana and had been employed there as a part-time electrician.
She said too that while the man had been born in Suriname, he lived in French Guiana, and came frequently to this country via the illegal Guyana/Suriname crossing, so his passport was never really used.
Sulkar said she last spoke with Patha on Monday last and he repeatedly complained about being ill-treated by prison officers which he was convinced was because of his non-Guyanese status.
She said too that the man had told her he was fed only bread and water and was becoming frustrated about the treatment meted out to him.
This allegation was put to Erskine who said he doubted whether such a situation existed, noting that Patha was not under punishment but had been secluded for security reasons. However he said investigations would be conducted to ascertain what the man’s diet was and exactly what he was frustrated about before he was found hanging from the ceiling.
The man’s girlfriend said too that he would always tell her to “hold it up” since he felt he was going to be freed soon.
Sulkar alleged that there were times when monies were given to prisoner officers to put in the tuck shop so her boyfriend could be provided with snacks on a daily basis, but when he made requests for the same, he would be told that there was no money available.
To this Erskine responded that once monies were lodged in the tuck shops the legal way, a receipt was provided to whoever had done so. He added that once the official procedure was followed it was impossible for the man not to have received what was due to him. However he promised to investigate this allegation as well.
Sulkar said she had made contact with the man’s family and his relatives were scheduled to arrive in Guyana today. (Heppilena Ferguson and Shabna Ullah)
