Five months after the teen torture case was dismissed after the complainant failed to appear in court, the three policemen who were implicated in the matter remain interdicted from duty.
According to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud it will take some time for Sergeant Narine Lall, Constable Mohanram Dolai and Corporal Oswald Foo to know what their future with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be, since “the process is a long one”.
Persaud told Stabroek News recently that the internal matter against the trio had to go through a process. He said that once criminal charges have been levelled against a serving policeman, disciplinary charges will be instituted by the GPF. He said it is the duty of the GPF’s administration to identify a senior officer to investigate the departmental breaches the trio may have committed.
It is unclear if this process has started and if so what stage it is at.
The Crime Chief further explained that after being charged the three men were interdicted from duty pending the outcome of the court proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court. On completion of that aspect of the case, he said, departmental charges should have been laid. In the event that the criminal charge (s) is/are discharged or dismissed, he said, departmental charges are instituted.
Persaud noted that the outcome of those charges will determine what “will happen to them.”
Meanwhile, Stabroek News was told that Dolai works as part of a security detail at a jewellery store in the city. He still attends High Court to give evidence in matters he investigated while he was an active member of the force.
Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Cecil Kennard told this newspaper recently that he no longer has an active role in the case. He said that in the initial stages of the matter he had recommended that criminal charges be laid against the policemen.
In November 2009, two of the policemen, Dolai and Lall, appeared in court charged with burning the genitals of the then 15-year-old with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or cause him grievous bodily harm. They were also charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding Nouravie Wilfred.
The duo and Corporal Foo were also charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding Deonarine Rafick, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or cause him grievous bodily harm.
The offences were committed shortly after the teen, Wilfred and Rafick were arrested by police in connection with the brutal murder of Region Three vice-chairman Ramenauth Bisram. Reports are that the teen was stripped and beaten before his genitals were burnt. The case drew international condemnation.
Magistrate Nyasha Williams-Hatmin was forced to issue arrest warrants for the teen, Wilfred and Rafick after they failed to attend court on several occasions. She dismissed the case in January, after they again failed to show. No evidence was ever taken since witnesses did not turn up. The dismissal came although the Ministry of Home Affairs had acknowledged that the teen boy was tortured.
Civil action was taken against the ranks and the Guyana Police Force and after describing the case as constituting torture, Justice Roxane George on June 17 awarded the teen $6.5 million in damages. In giving her ruling she explained that there had been a violation of his fundamental human rights.
