After he was accused of being a rapist, a 20-year-old Dartmouth, Essequibo Coast man was badly beaten allegedly by residents of Devonshire Castle also on the Essequibo Coast.
Speaking with Stabroek News, Lucy Welch, the mother of the man, said that her son Terrence Welch was heading home to Dartmouth when he was attacked.
“Yesterday [Sunday] morning around 5, Terrence say that he was walking coming from Richmond where he went to catch a car. He say that the car man see the police and because he was overloaded the man put him at Devonshire Castle. Terence say that after the man drop he out he went to urinate in a corner and that is when the people in Castle come out and start beating him and say that he is the rapist,” Lucy Welch said.
The woman said Welch told the residents that he did not rape anyone but before he could walk away, they started beating him.
She said the police vehicle which the driver had seen that caused him to put Welch out of his car had already passed, but it turned around and the police arrested Welch.
“My son get injuries to his head, hand, foot and neck. My son is not a rapist. He is a honest man and he didn’t deserve what they do to him. I want justice for my son,” the woman said.
“Them people beat my son with iron. They chop he on he foot and buss he head with the iron. My son is under police guard at the hospital and he is in a lot of pain. I really need the police to investigate this matter. It is not fair that a human being should be treated this way,” she added.
Welch, who works as a labourer in Adventure, is currently a patient at the Suddie Public Hospital where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.
Last week, a 31-year-old woman had reported that she was dragged from her home at Devonshire Castle and raped. When contacted by this publication, ‘G’ Division Commander Kevin Adonis had said that there was no medical evidence to show that the woman had been raped. However, according to information reaching this newspaper, the police subsequently arrested two men yesterday in relation to the incident.
Investigations are ongoing.
