A man is accusing police of brutality, saying he was arrested and allegedly beaten by a number of lawmen early Sunday morning, in the East Ruimveldt area.
According to Marlon Bobb, 20, he and two women were returning home from a fete when two van loads of policemen approached and the ranks pounced on them and accused him of committing a robbery.
“Dem come to me and tell me to talk about the robbery and I tell dem me ain’t know nothing and just so dem starting beating me and one a dem had cutlass and beating me with it,” said the young man as he sought treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
The man stood shackled at the ankles and there were some small cuts visible on one of his feet, which he said were inflicted by the cutlass. He said he received many blows on his feet and he found it difficult to walk. He also said he was beaten to the head and there was a sign of an injury on his left temple.
One of the two women with him at the time of the attack also complained about the treatment they received from the lawmen. The woman, who asked not to be named, was also at the hospital seeking medical attention and she recalled pleading on Bobb’s behalf as he tried to escape the blows. He “ran around we trying to save he self and I tell dem police dat deh can’t beat deh boy like dat,” she said, adding that her words prompted one of the police officers to place a cutlass to her neck. He told her if she did not shut up he would have killed her, she said.
Eventually, Bobb and the two women were placed in the police vehicle and carried to the East La Penitence Police Station, where the man said he was again beaten. He was later taken to the Brickdam Police Station, while the women remained locked-up at East La Penitence.
Bobb’s mother, who gave her name as Sandra, said her son was in the Brickdam lock-ups since Sunday morning. Even as he cried out in pain, she said the lawmen refused to take him to the hospital until yesterday.
The distraught woman questioned how the lawmen could just arrest her son without explaining the basis for their actions, while she pointed out that she and the rest of her family were still unaware of the alleged robbery. She noted that it was only less than two weeks ago that Bobb returned from Trinidad, where he lives and work.
The police, meanwhile, released the two young women yesterday on $10,000 bail and they were told to appear in court tomorrow to answer charges for disorderly behaviour.
