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Jan 21, 2014 News
– Teen said she told Timehri police of allegations
Two women have given statements attesting to the abuse experienced by police detainee Colwyn Harding who has accused ranks at the Timehri Police Station of sexually assaulting him with a baton last November.
These statements were taken by Attorney-at- Law, Nigel Hughes yesterday.
Harding’s girlfriend, Teanisha Evans, 18, claimed that the disrespect shown by police was unbelievable.
The case is being heavily debated with the Guyana Police Force already indicating that ranks fingered have denied the allegations. The Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, has said that reports from doctors indicated that Harding never told them he was abused.
Evans related that on November 15, 2013 at around 3:30 am, she was at a house opposite the Timehri Fire Station with Harding, when five persons, comprising of four neighbourhood police, and another man visited the house in search of “weed”.
“They said there were searching for weed and asking where this boy work. I told them his name is Colwyn Harding and he works in the interior. They told me that I am keeping information from the police and I would be locked up for giving officers false information.”
According to Evans, after ‘terrifying’ persons in the house “three of the men including policeman Singh, took Harding into the bedroom and the other man took me outside by the police van which was parked in front of the house. While I was outside by the van with two police officers, I asked them why they were harassing me; you all don’t even have a female. I heard Colwyn screaming inside the house screaming “you all don’t beat me no more, you all gun kill me”. The beating lasted a long time.”
She added that, “After about twenty five minutes I ran back inside the house where I saw Colwyn in different boxers wearing Wolf brand, small size boxers. I saw Officer Singh hit Colwyn on his hand and tell him “put on your clothes we are going to the station.” His hands were swollen and he was limping.”
Adding that Harding was placed in the tray of the police vehicle, she alleged that Constable Singh then stuffed Harding’s mouth with a sponge. The officers then visited another house, where one Tiffany Edwards and a twelve year old were arrested.
“While they were bringing the 12 year -old boy to the van one of the policemen took a chopper and broadside the little boy in his face. It left a brand. They took the four of us to the Timehri Outpost. They handcuffed Colwyn and the 12 year old boy to a bed frame in the Timehri Outpost.”
Evans further said that Harding told her that Constable Singh, “beat he and push his finger up his anus first then he carry him in the bathroom, throw water and a ‘cokes’ on him and tell him to ‘wine’ like a girl. He said Singh beat him and he get black out. …he said Singh told him he gun push a condom on the baton and push it in him.” His hands were swollen and his feet were swollen.”
Evans further explained that the officers then took the four of them to the Timehri Police Station, where they were placed behind the bench and were not allowed to make any phone calls.
“Colwyn tied his hand in a make shift sling around his neck. Colwyn put his head on my shoulder and was crying for pain. I told the red skinned Inspector who was on duty about the incident and I told them that this man is a wicked man, they tried to b @#$% r this boy. The red skinned officer tell me mind me mouth or I’ll be locked up for false allegation against the police. The Inspector called out to Singh and told him “If you do that you gun get trouble”.
She continued; “Singh then came and scrambled Colwyn. I jumped in the middle and told Singh you can’t do him dem thing no more he is not a criminal. Singh pushed me out of the way and I fell and hit my head on the desk and got a black eye.”
Meanwhile, Tiffany Edwards, 18, a Timehri resident who lived two doors away from where Harding was arrested, said she was at her fiance’s house behind the airport and was heading home around 03:00 hrs from a shop when she heard her brother-in-law, Stephon, crying.
She went into the home and alleged that she was snatched by Officer Singh who allegedly cursed her, asking for her husband.
“Some of the neighbourhood policemen went into a bedroom and throw a bucket of water on my eight and nine-year-old brothers-in-law who were sleeping on a bed. I started to cry and said why we have to be treated as animals we are humans.”
Edwards, who said she was two months pregnant at the time, said she saw Harding and Evans in the police van crying.
She said she could not walk at the station and sat in the passageway to the outpost.
She alleged: “While I was sitting down in the passageway, Officer Singh started to kick me in my belly. He kicked me three times…”
The teen said racial terms were hurled at her by the police ranks and she was bleeding heavily. She later saw Harding and he “was smelling messy.”
The witness said that she saw Policeman Singh allegedly pushing Evans down where she struck her head on a desk and received a black eye, in the process.
She was taken to court days later and placed on $110,000.00 bail.
“I could not afford the bail. I was remanded to prison. I was in East La Penitence for four weeks. I bled continuously for the four weeks. I came to Berbice (prisons) before Christmas. I reported I was bleeding. The medex at the New Amsterdam lock up told me that I lost the child and I started to cry. This was my first child. They gave me tablets. I continued to bleed and am still bleeding up to now.”
Edwards also claimed in her statement that she was charged with assaulting a peace officer and disorderly behavior.
Officers at the Timheri Police Station involved in the matter were all transferred and Constable Devin Mahendra Singh was placed under close arrest for the incident. The Police Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the incident.
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