The 12-year-old boy who was held overnight by the police yesterday submitted a statement to the Police’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) but nothing was said about what steps the police intend to take in the matter.
The child’s mother, Esther Perreira, told Stabroek News that ranks had requested that she returned to the police station with the child but she opted not to. She said that she instead went to the OPR located at police headquarters Eve Leary, where she and the child gave statements on what occurred last Friday night.
Perreira, while noting that the authorities have remained silent on the treatment meted out to her son, said that she will not give up. She said she intends to ensure that she gets answers from the police.
The child was among several young men who were arrested when police took a decision to launch a mobile patrol operation around the city in the wake of an increase in gunpoint related robberies.
He was arrested in the Guyhoc area after ranks saw him playing with a toy gun. Perreira claimed that the ranks were verbally abusive to her and refused to tell her where they were taking her son.
She said that after numerous checks she later learnt that he was being held at a new police station located at the back of North Ruimveldt. The upset woman had related that after his release the following afternoon, the child related to her that he was placed in a lock up with grown men and had to sleep on a concrete floor. The child also alleged that he was repeatedly slapped by ranks while in police custody.
A police official and legal sources this newspaper spoke with said that under the law a 12-year-old can be detained if there is a reasonable suspicion that he has committed a crime. It was noted though that once arrested he should be held in facilities specially allocated for the detention of juveniles and should not be questioned without a guardian being present.
