Relatives of a 38-year-old minibus driver of Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara are seeking the truth regarding the way he met his death while in police custody after noticing “marks of violence about his body.”
Police sources said Zaharudeen Rozan who was arrested sometime on Tuesday evening appeared sick yesterday morning and was taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Rozan, a father of three who lived alone, was arrested sometime on Tuesday night for allegedly damaging a neighbour’s fence and taken to the Leonora Police Station.
He was then placed in the lock-ups at the Parika Police Station and was said to be sitting in a corner by himself.
He was also “saying all kinds of things” and started banging his head against the concrete wall.
According to the sources, the officers contacted their colleagues at the Leonora station yesterday morning after noticing that he was sick and they sent a patrol vehicle to transport him to the hospital.
Commander of ‘D’ Division, Assistant Commissioner, Marlon Chapman and other officers visited the home of the man’s parents at Hague Backdam around 3:45 pm yesterday to break the sad news.
His father, Abdul Majeed told Stabroek News that after listening to the police’ account of what happened they asked if they can have the body for burial today, in keeping with Islamic teachings.
The man had also told the officers that he did not want an autopsy to be performed on the body but after examining it at the Ezekiel Mortuary he may very well go through with it.
The body bore marks to the left hand, bruises on the stomach and knees, and blood was oozing out of the eyes.
He lamented that his son could not bang his head to the wall and have all those marks. He is demanding to know the truth and said the matter would not be dropped easily.
He said too that his son last spoke to him around 10 pm on Tuesday and he sounded normal.
He was at the time “rolling barbwire” and told his father that some boys were trying to steal his bicycle and the barbwire.
Majeed said he visited the area and was told by some neighbours that Rozan was not known to have problems with anyone. The fence that he reportedly damaged is located obliquely opposite and said to be made of steel.
Police said in a release that at about 8:45 am yesterday Rozan was “alive and lying on the floor of the lock-ups…”
Following questioning of other prisoners in the lock-ups, he was taken for medical treatment at the hospital.
The release said too that investigations are being conducted by the Police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
Rozan was arrested and taken into custody around 9:10 pm on Tuesday following a report of damage to property that was made against him, according to the release.
Rozan’s death is the second on the West Demerara that the police have faced questions over in recent months.
Asif Rahim Khatoon
Relatives of Asif Rahim Khatoon, the Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara fisherman who was allegedly killed by police are finding it hard to cope with his death and “looking for answers.”
His wife, Soorsattie ‘Lilly’ Chandrapaul, 35, is disappointed at the snail’s pace at which the investigation is going and feels justice is being denied.
Khatoon who was arrested around 11 pm on November 21 during a domestic dispute with Chandrapaul had reportedly told her that the police had beaten him severely.
As a result, he suffered fractured skull, broken jaw and injuries to his stomach.
His face was also swollen and he was “vomiting blood,” according to Chandrapaul.
She said all of that could have been avoided and her husband would have still been alive had the police not treated him in such a brutal manner.
“He had no problem with the police and I don’t know why the police brutalized him like that
He lost his life for no reason. This cannot be fair!” the distraught woman cried. “He was a very hardworking fisherman and was earning for his family. Now it is so hard for us to get by.
We are facing a really difficulty time. My husband left a house yes but we can’t eat this house.”
So far, no charge has been laid against any policeman in this case as the force has said there has been no positive identification.
Over the years there have been other cases of deaths in police lock-ups.
