Police have wrapped up their investigations into why a 12-year-old boy was detained overnight and are to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) but the child’s mother says she is not confident she will get justice.
An upset Esther Perreira said she will begin a picketing exercise soon. Perreira who visited the Stabroek News’ Robb Street office yesterday said that earlier she visited the force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) at Eve Leary, with a view of getting an update on the matter. Days after the incident, the woman and her son had visited the OPR and later submitted statements.
The woman, a newspaper vendor who operates a “small stand” in the Guyhoc area, said that all an officer told her was that the “matter going to DPP”. She stated that the rank assured her that something will come out of the matter.
In spite of this, she said, she has no confidence she will get justice because of past experiences.
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 on the night of November 30.
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.
