The woman, Hemwattie
Louchand also known as
‘Lisa’, was a pitiful
sight as she lay in a ward at
the Georgetown Public Hospital
yesterday with her face black
and blue and a front tooth
missing. When asked about her
injuries she said, “I not
lying I can’t remember what
happen, I don’t mean to give
you a hard time, I can’t
remember”.
Friends contacted the
police and they arrived at the
home where the beating
occurred and found the
battered woman in an
unconscious state and took her
to the hospital but not before
they had arrested the man and
taken him to the Providence
Police Station.
Since then the woman was
reportedly slipping in and out
of consciousness. And while
she was in this state her
alleged abuser was released
the day after he was arrested
and placed on $20,000 bail. He
then made visits to her at the
hospital and another report
was made to the police and he
was rearrested but soon
released again.
Since then he has been
visiting the institution in
the mornings.
As Stabroek News was at the
woman’s bedside a female
police officer approached with
the aim of taking a statement
from her but she stated that
she could not recall what had
happened and so there was
nothing she could tell the
officer.
It has been argued that
this is the situation that
police officers around the
country are facing even as the
public lambastes them for not
taking reports of domestic
violence seriously.
Tantamount
However, Minister of Human
Services and Social Security
Priya Manickchand had another
take on the issue when she was
contacted by this newspaper
yesterday. The minister, who
has been approached by
concerned relatives and
friends of the woman, pointed
out that had the police kept
the suspect in custody
following the attack he would
not have been able to approach
the victim while she was in
hospital. She feels that
whatever the man may have told
the victim during his visits
caused the woman to state she
could not recall what had
happened to her.
The minister pointed out
that the woman suffered some
serious injuries, including a
fractured skull and she feels
that the attack was tantamount
to attempted murder. She noted
that just as in an accident
the police may hold a driver
of a vehicle until they are
sure the person was going to
live they could have done the
same thing in this instance.
There have been many cases
where the police would arrest
someone based on eyewitness
evidence and even charge the
person without a statement
from the injured person and
later apply to the magistrate
for bail to be refused until
they were certain that the
injured person would live. The
minister said that the same
approach could have been
applied in this case as the
woman was slipping in and out
of consciousness and so
the man should have been held
or charged. “He probably
went to her and apologised and
now she cannot remember what
has happened,” the minister
told Stabroek News.
Manickchand said she is
“horrified” at the extent
of the woman’s injuries
while adding that it is even
more “horrifying” that the
police released the man on
$20,000 bail. She noted
that the fact that the woman
now doesn’t want to talk
could also be as a result of a
lack of confidence in the
system, adding that all
agencies, not only her
ministry, need to come
together and work on the issue
of domestic violence.
She said she understands
the problem the lawmen and
women face especially in cases
where the women don’t want
the matter to go before the
court but at least in this
instance the police should
have kept the man in custody
to prevent him from
approaching the woman.
Stabroek News understands
that while there may have been
witnesses to the attack the
police would still need a
statement from the woman to
proceed with the matter.
The man, according to
reports, “lift up the woman
and lash her down about two
times” after he had
pummelled her face with his
fist and then he left her
lying on the ground bleeding
in an unconscious state. She
has been abused constantly but
it is not clear if she has
ever made a report to the
police.
