-family says she has been beaten
A mother of five has been detained by the police after her number was discovered in a cellular phone found on Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles at the time of his death and relatives have alleged that she has been beaten.
Relatives of Lucy Simon say she was carted off in handcuffs from a home in Sophia on Thursday evening.
Stabroek News was told that two van loads of soldiers and policemen descended on the home and arrested the woman and a brother, who has since been released.
Relatives said that the woman has since stated that she has been shuttled between the East La Penitence Police Station and Eve Leary and that she has been beaten. Police officials could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Relatives say she has since been informed that her number was found in Charles’ phone. She received a call on her phone sometime on Thursday but was not aware that she was talking to a law officer and revealed where she was after the information was requested.
The woman operates a shop in Sophia and according to her relatives she cooks and sleeps in the shop with her children.
The lawmen descended on the shop, which was at the time being operated by her 11-year-old daughter, late Thursday afternoon. Her brother was sitting outside the shop at the time and when he was asked who he was he told them that he was just a customer. According to the family, the child was roughed up after saying she didn’t know where her mother was.
As they were taking the child from the shop she told them the man sitting outside was her uncle and they should ask him where her mother was. Relatives said that the lawmen then started to beat her brother and at the same time Simon, who was above the shop in her relative’s home peeped out of a window. The officers saw her and entered the home. Simon and her brother were then carted off to the station.
Relatives stated that that the woman said she met Charles after visiting a relative in the prison but that he had never communicated with her since his escape. She said the only communication she has ever had with Charles was when he requested a bottle of water when she visited the prison. She does not know how he got her phone number.
The woman’s relatives are very concerned about her well being but said they can ill afford a lawyer at this time. The woman is said to be in constant pain and still nurses her one-year-old daughter.
She has since stated that the police have informed her that she would be charged with harbouring criminals.
“They must be want her to provide information on the other criminals but she ent know nothing,” one relative said.
