A wrongful death lawsuit is to be filed against the state by the widow of taxi-driver Lallbachan Bachan, who was discovered dead in the Suddie Police Station lockup on Monday, days after he was taken into custody.
Attorney Anil Nandlall, during a press conference held at his South Road, Georgetown office yesterday morning, said that he will be filing civil proceedings against the state to claim compensation for Bachan’s wife, Samantha Bachan, and their children.
He said he will also be writing to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to request an immediate inquest into Bachan’s death, and to the Commissioner of Police requesting a “full-fledged” investigation.
These steps, Nandlall said, will be taken “almost” immediately.
According to Nandlall, Bachan was a victim of police brutality, which he deemed another case which highlights the violence meted out to persons in police custody.
“Once a person is taken into police custody, then the Guyana Police Force bears the responsibility and in law, a duty of care to ensure the safety of those persons and here it is that persons are being arrested, taken into custody and they suffer violent death while in custody,” said Nandlall. These allegations, he added, have appeared with repeated frequency in recent times.
The police had said that Bachan, 39, a father of four of Lot 21 Maria’s Lodge, Essequibo Coast, was discovered dead in a cell at the Suddie Police Station around 6.10 am on Monday, days after he was arrested for driving under the influence.
At the time, the police said, Bachan was the lone occupant of the cell.
He was taken to the Suddie Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body bore no visible marks of violence, according to the police.
The police later said that an autopsy performed on Bachan’s remains showed that he died as a result of a fractured larynx, which can be caused by a fall.
However, the autopsy report seen by this newspaper listed Bachan’s cause of death as asphyxiation and a fractured larynx.
Samantha had told this newspaper that her family is seeking answers from the relevant authorities since they believe Bachan’s death was not a natural one.
“…Something wasn’t right because he was the lone prisoner in the cell. Something fishy went on there. I can’t say because I wasn’t there but something wasn’t right because my husband can’t just be there in a cell and just dead,” Samantha had said.
She explained that when she saw her husband’s body at the funeral home, there were marks of violence on his head, face, arms and feet, although the police are claiming there were none at the time of the discovery of the body.
Her claims was substantiated by photographs depicting these marks.
‘The police must answer’
Nandlall told reporters that Bachan was kept in custody for more than 72 hours without charge. He explained that this should not be the case since in situations like this, provisions ought to be made for the arrest warrant to be recalled.
“This here the police must answer…Quite frankly, this gentleman should not have been in the lock-ups. Not for so long. I am, we are all assuming that the magistrate before whom he appeared or he was supposed to appear, issued an arrest warrant because he didn’t appear. So the procedure is that they have to take him back to a magistrate to have the arrest warrant recalled,” Nandlall said.
He explained that he is proceeding on the assumption that an arrest warrant was indeed issued for Bachan.
If it turns out to be a situation where one wasn’t, Nandlall said it would be “even worse,” since the police would not have had any basis to keep Bachan in custody for such a long period.
“The liberty of the subject must always be accorded priority and a police is duty bound in law to release a person under arrest as soon as is possibly practicable. The investigations and everything here would have been concluded hence the charges already filed so what are you arresting the man and keeping him there for?” Nandlall questioned.
“He lives on the Essequibo Coast. The police knows where he was living. They were going to his house to arrest him. This is not a stranger. So on what basis are you going to keep this man in custody for that period of time and then beat him on top of that,” he added.
Bachan was arrested last week Friday on two arrest warrants for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Prior to his arrest, Samantha said, Bachan was placed on $20,000 bail.
She related that her husband told her that an officer allegedly came to their house to meet him. However, at the time, Bachan wasn’t at home and went to meet him at the police station the following day.
Samantha said her husband told her that the officer asked him for $100,000 to settle the matter but he explained he couldn’t afford such a large amount and offered him the bail money instead.
The officer reportedly told Bachan that was not sufficient.
“He said that the officer wanted a $100,000 from him. He said when he went there (the police station) the police officer took him in a room and he bought some pholourie and drink for him and then is when he had the talk saying that he want the $100,000 to settle the matter and he said he doesn’t have so much, you can take the bail money if you want. He said no, that is not enough,” Samantha said.
Bachan initially attended court on June 20th for the matter, and on this occasion, the case was postponed to June 28th.
However, Bachan did not turn up at court, resulting in the warrants being issued for him.
Samantha said Bachan was arrested shortly after he had left home for work.
During this period, Bachan’s family was denied access to visit him.
”It’s an absolute abuse of power and an absolute abuse of the constitutional rights of citizens of this country to deny access to them while they are in the lock-ups,” Nandlall said.
Throughout the weekend, his mother took meals for him and requested to see him but was not allowed to.
On Sunday, Samantha said, she accompanied her mother-in-law to the police station and asked to see Bachan.
They were granted about five minutes with him and during this time Bachan appeared normal and bore no injuries about his body. However, on the said afternoon, Samantha noted that when Bachan’s mother returned with dinner, she was not allowed to see him.
The following day, she said, as her mother-in-law was about to leave home for the police station, she was confronted by the police, who informed her of Bachan’s death.
Stabroek News understands that an investigation has been launched in the matter by the Police Complaints Authority.
