A Bartica couple and a female relative were last Sunday allegedly assaulted by two prison officers from the Mazaruni Prison while hanging out at Bushy Bar, Bartica, in Region Seven.
The matter was reported to the police who allegedly further assaulted the couple resulting in the husband being admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.
Commander of Region Seven, Senior Superintendent Dion Moore is disputing the woman’s claims and said that when the report was taken from the husband, he was in a stable condition.
An investigation has been launched into the matter.
Troy Hughes, 28, and his common-law-wife, Orlene Lyte, 25, and her sister, Camille Singh, all of whom reside at Byderabo Road, Bartica were on Sunday left with swollen and bruised faces and necks, while Hughes was admitted to the hospital after a fight ensued between Hughes and three friends who were in the bar teasing Lyte. Hughes, Lyte and Singh were said to be hanging out outside the bar on a bench after having beers.
Hughes was defending his wife from one of the prison officers but the man took affront to Hughes’ comments. He got up, confronted Hughes and shoved him. Hughes immediately retaliated by shoving him back. At this point the prison officer’s two friends got up as well, and Lyte immediately rushed to the Bartica Police Station to report the matter.
Lyte told Stabroek News yesterday that she told police officer Fraser, “There is a fight between my boy, and three other residents” She added that the officer responded that he would go, but not right now. However, Lyte insisted that he should go immediately.
Lyte followed the police officer to the scene of the fight, where she saw that all three of the men had held her husband down. She intervened by removing one of the men’s hand from her husband. The man reacted by slapping her and she fell to the ground.
She explained that the police officer then arrested all of them including her and Singh. When they arrived at the station, Hughes asked the officer, why he was being pushed as he was already inside the building. Lyte said the officer responded twice by saying, “You see how you getting on…people like ayo, boy, aye.”
She alleged that the officer began slapping and kicking her husband. She intervened and said, “He’s a decent person you don’t have to kick and cuff him. What kind of people are y’all? Just sitting there, and watching him being beaten up? She alleged that the officer responded by slapping her three times to the face, bursting her mouth, and causing her to bleed through the nose. She also said she fell and hit herself hard in the station.
Her sister then intervened and inquired about what the officers were doing to her brother-in-law and sister. The officer allegedly turned to her, slapped her in the face and cuffed her in the eye, rendering it black and blue. According to Lyte, the officer turned to her and said mockingly, “Your face red, red… look, how your face red, go and wash it off.”
She added that the police officers let the two prison officers go, along with their friends who caused the fight. She recalled an officer pushing her sister and her husband into the lock ups.
She acknowledged that she was a little intoxicated because of the alcohol that she drank earlier with her husband and sister at the bar, and as a result of that, she raised her voice when defending her husband at the station.
She said that her husband was admitted to the Bartica hospital on Monday. She noted that up to now, he cannot walk or move properly. She is currently seeking assistance as neither her husband nor her sister are in any condition to help her at home. She disclosed that she has six children to take care of. Lyte wants justice.
She is contending that the police officers could have handcuffed her husband and put them in the lockups instead of being violent toward them.
