Relatives and close friends of Asif Rahim Khatoon, 38, who was allegedly badly beaten by ranks of the Leonora Police Station and succumbed days later, yesterday protested in front of the station as they demanded justice.
They braved the rain and bore placards, some of which read: ‘Who would be the next victim of police brutality?’ and ‘how many more lives would police brutality claim?’
Khatoon of Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara was taken into custody on Friday November 21 for reportedly verbally and physically abusing his wife, Soorsattie ‘Lilly’ Chandrapaul, 35.
Afraid that the spat would escalate, a relative decided to call the police around 11 pm. He was released on November 24 without being charged.
The man’s wife recalled that when the police arrived, he “did not resist arrest; he co-operated with them” and was placed in handcuffs.
She accompanied him to the station in the police pick-up and sat in the cabin while he was placed to lie flat at the back with a few officers.
On the way, they stopped to pick up two young men and her husband tried to get up to see them and one of the officers then reportedly gun-butted his face.
He was also shouting and telling her that the police were “beating him” but when she looked back she did not see anything. When they arrived at the station, he tried to help himself in getting out of the van when a policeman hit him to his face with his knee.
He was kept at the station for the night and was taken to the Parika station the following afternoon. Around 5 pm on Sunday, he called and told her that the police had beaten him and broken his jaw.
She went there about two hours later and asked to see him but the officer said she could not “take him out.” She insisted that she wanted to “see his face” and the man was allowed to look out.
Chandrapaul said she noticed that it was swollen and she told the police to “give him two panadols” but she allegedly refused. “She tell me ‘madam you have to go now’.”
She then decided to make a report to a senior rank at Leonora station the Monday morning and he arranged for a medical to be uplifted.
They went to the Leonora Cottage Hospital and the doctor sent them to Best Hospital to get an x-ray which proved that his jaw was broken. Two more x-rays were also done the following day.
She told this newspaper that it was not fair that her husband was treated in such an inhumane manner and said it was “unacceptable. He did not deserve it.”
During the brief protest organized by social activist, Mark Benschop, the protestors chanted: ‘We want justice,’ ‘charge the police,’ ‘no justice, no peace.’
The family expressed disgust at the way the police brutalized the man that resulted in him losing his life. They also asked for the ranks involved to be charged and for the senior ranks on duty to be transferred.
His sister, Shanaz Aziz said the man also told her that the police had beaten him and said the family would not rest until justice is served.
Benschop, told Stabroek News that they plan to continue the protest tomorrow in front of the office of the Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud and the Ministry of Home Affairs. He vowed that “nothing would be pushed under the rug.”
He said too that the family is poor but no one is asking who would take care of the man’s four children or who would take care of funeral expenses. He said they need to be compensated.
