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– DPP returns advice, file to be sent to OPRThirty-five-year-old Soorsattie Chandrapaul, whose husband reached a brutal end after he was held in police custody for a few days last November, is again calling for those guilty of beating him to death to be brought to justice.Her husband, 38-year-old Asif Rahim Khatoon, called “Catches”, was taken into custody on November 22, last for allegedly assaulting her while under the influence of alcohol, but when he returned to his family the fisherman was in a poor state.Reports are that Khatoon was thrashed by ranks while incarcerated at the Leonora Police Station. Taken to the hospital with a broken jaw and other wounds, the 38-year-old subsequently perished on November 27,Nike Air Max Sale Cheap, last, from the injuries he sustained, allegedly at the hands of two police ranks.A post mortem examination (PME) later conducted on Khatoon, found that he died from multiple injuries to his head, face, chest and other parts of the body. The police had claimed that he was beaten by a prisoner to whom he was handcuffed on a bench.Amidst rising public pressure and allegations that he was killed by the police, two Constables from the said station were placed under close arrest as an investigation was launched, but Kaieteur News understands that they have since been transferred to another location.To date, no charge has yet been laid in relation to Khatoon’s death, Crime Chief Leslie James confirmed yesterday.Nonetheless, Chandrapaul remembers her husband’s last days which were marked by complaints of police brutality. To date, the mother of four remains convinced that her husband died as a result of the blows inflicted by the lawmen.Even as she struggles to sustain her family, the 35-year-old woman said she hopes that the perpetrators will be made to face the full brunt of the law soon.“Since the file gone to the (Director of Public Prosecutions), I don’t know what really happen. The police them back on duty,” the woman said.Notwithstanding the setbacks, Chandrapaul is hoping for an answer.She said, “My children are really upset with this. They have to go to school and things are really hard without my husband. It’s a lot of expenses that I’m facing alone. The police didn’t have the right to do this to my husband,” the grieving woman said.“I’m asking in a peaceful way that justice be served for me and my children. If we had a li’l domestic violence in the home, why they couldn’t charge him and put him before the courts? I don’t know why the police had to do this.”“I can’t really say what’s going on in this country. Since November 27 (2014) I ain’t get no justice for my husband.”She reasons that had her husband been alive, she and her family would not be struggling as they are now. Chandrapaul told Kaieteur News that she has, since then, gone into a chicken rearing business but reports that “things are extremely slow.”“We (her family) never had to go out and ask anybody for anything. It’s kind of a slow business because everybody here rears their own chicken…Only who feels it knows it,” she said.The dead man’s daughter Shaneeza Khatoon joined in her mother’s pleas for justice.The 19-year-old said, “We are really suffering without him. If he and my mother had a problem, this shouldn’t have happened. While my father is dead, the police are out there free. It’s been almost three months now and nothing. Mommy has a lot of expenses and it’s hard.”“I applied for a job; I’m doing a computer course. I want to help my mom. I just want justice for my father.”The fisherman had resided at Lot 102 Ocean Gardens, Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara with his wife, three daughters aged 19, 17 and 8 and 14-year-old son. As a result of Khattoon’s death, they took to the streets and staged two protests: one in front of the Leonora Police Station and Office of the Commissioner of Police.At the latter protest, acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud had invited the man’s wife for a meeting during which he quelled their concerns and promised no “cover up” in the probe.It was after the post mortem report, that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) of the Police Force was expected to wrap up its probe and forward its file to the Police Complaints Authority for recommendations and advice.Once that was completed, the file was sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who was expected to offer advice whether charges should or should not be laid in the matter.When contacted Thursday, Public Relations Officer of the DPP’s Chambers, Elizabeth Rahaman said that the Chambers was not in the habit of keeping police files “so long.” She told this publication that “the file would have gone back.”The Crime Chief confirmed that the DPP has already offered her advice in the matter and the file will be forwarded to the OPR next week. |
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