The relatives of Sewdial Persaud, the man found dead in the Number 51 Police Station lock-up after what police suggested was a “suspected suicide,” have called for a thorough investigation to be carried out.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Thursday said that an investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the death Persaud, 45, of Number 58 Village, Corentyne.
His relatives yesterday said they do not believe he took his own life.
Persaud, the GPF said in a statement, was found hanging from the door of a cell in the lock-up of the No. 51 Police Station around 4 pm on Thursday.
According to the statement, the man’s common-law wife made a report against him, claiming that he had threatened to kill her, burn their house and then kill himself, which led to the police placing the man under arrest.
“As a result, Sewdial Persaud was arrested by the police and at about 10:25 hours [on Thursday], he was placed in the passageway between the cells of the lockups, clothed in his boxer shorts. There were two other prisoners in one of the holding cells of the lockups at the time. Later, during another visit to the lockups by the Subordinate Officer in charge of the Station, Sewdial Persaud was found on his knees hanging from a cell door with the elastic waist band from a boxer shorts around his neck and tied to the door of a cell. Another boxer shorts belonging to one of the other prisoners, along with Sewdial Persaud’s boxer shorts, were found in the passageway, without their elastic waist bands”, the statement explained.
The man’s body was taken to the Anthony Funeral Parlour, where a post-mortem examination is expected to be done over the weekend.
However, Persaud’s relatives yesterday voiced their doubts about the account released by police and in calling for a thorough investigation they urged that ranks from the Number 51 Police Station not be part of the investigation.
The man’s wife told Stabroek News that for over 20 years whenever he drank, she would lock him out of the house, “and he does say he go kill me, burn the house down and kill heself.”
However, according to the woman, she decided to head to the station to file a complaint “and ask the police to warn he but me na expect for this turn out like this, me na expect this at all.”
