By Zoisa Fraser
Relatives of Surindranauth Bhoojnauth who was found hanging in his cell on Tuesday after he was detained by Mahaica police are now pointing fingers at the ranks, insisting that they should have taken away his belt and any other item before he was placed in confinement.
They said that this was the normal procedures adopted by the police when handling prisoners. This was confirmed by several high ranking law enforcement authorities and this newspaper has learnt that a senior officer attached to the station has been questioned by his superiors in relation to Bhoojnauth’s death.
The 31-year-old Belmont, Mahaica resident who was placed in the lock-ups on Tuesday afternoon after he allegedly hit a woman he had a pending court matter with, was found hanging by his belt which was attached to the bars of a ventilation window on the southern wall of his cell.
A police source told Stabroek News yesterday that the routine is that whenever a suspect is placed in the lock-ups, all belts and shoe laces are taken away and only plastic bottles, spoons and bowls are allowed into the cell. The source said that this is done to prevent prisoners from killing or injuring themselves.
The man’s sister Nalini Chowbay yesterday disputed the police version during an interview with Stabroek News, saying that she finds it hard to believe that he would commit suicide over a minor report when he had gone though a lot worse.
According to her, he was charged with murder, had several minor court matters, had mental issues following a fall from a hotel roof in 2000 and was unable to use one of his feet fully due to burns he sustained. However, he never showed any signs that he wanted to take his own life although he would tell persons to kill him when he was very angry.
She told this newspaper of abuse her brother suffered at the hands of the police before he was roughly pushed into the lock-ups.
Chowbay lodged a complaint at the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) on Wednesday and a statement was taken from her.
A post-mortem will be conducted on Bhoojnauth’s remains today.
She informed Stabroek News that a fall in Barbados in 2000 left her brother with serious mental problems. She explained that he had three operations for a fractured skull and was in a coma for eight days.
Stressing that he had gone thorough a lot during the course of his life, Chowbay said that he gets very angry when he is aggravated and would always tell people to kill him. But he never had threatened to take his own life, she said.
Amidst tears, the woman explained that on Tuesday morning he had to go to court for a matter he had with a former tenant and she accompanied him.
She said that around 1 pm, the magistrate adjourned the court for a few minutes and they proceeded to a snackette where they bought something to eat.
According to Chowbay, the woman her brother had the problem with subsequently told ranks that she had thrown remarks at her, which she strenuously denied.
The woman said that she told the ranks that she, her brother and another man were sitting under the shop and if they wanted they could confirm with the shop owner that she did not tell the woman anything.
Chowbay added that Bhoojnauth is so sickly that he cannot work and the ranks at the station were aware of his situation. Once again recounting the events at the station, she said that the woman continued to accuse her of using threatening language and this infuriated her brother. It was at this point that he used some threatening language towards the woman and she tried to calm him. She could not recall him hitting the woman or anyone else.
She said that an officer then cuffed him in the face and stomach and held him by his jersey before pushing him into the lock-ups. She said that when she left around 3 pm, Bhoojnauth was screaming for her, telling her that he needed a medical from the hospital because the police burst his eye.
Chowbay explained to this newspaper that as a result of the fall, her brother suffered from constant seizures. She said that she strongly believes that the cuff he sustained to the head was the fatal blow. Stabroek News was unable to contact any senior police official on the East Coast to comment on these allegations.
She said too that there was no way that he could have reached the ventilation window to attach any belt because it is a bit high and his foot is hardly up to it as a result of an accident when he was seven years old. She said that he could not bend the knee.
Chowbay in commenting on the belt issue said that the police have no excuse for not taking it away. “They probably forget in the middle of all the confusion but they suppose to have their heads on and do the right thing. They know about his mental situation so they should have done the right thing,” she said.
In February, 2006, Chowbay was charged with murdering Ramparan Deonarine called `Son’ but was freed in June last year.
He and Deonarine reportedly had an argument in a shop in Belmont, Mahaica over religion. Deonarine was hit in his head with a piece of wood which had a nail. He died in the Georgetown Public Hospital eight days after the incident.
A resident of Belmont told Stabroek News during a recent visit that after his release from prison, Bhoojnauth lived a life of frustration.
The resident and a woman close to the family, while not expressing shock at his death, said that the police should not have allowed him into the lock-ups with a belt.
This newspaper was told that it was hard to imagine that no one heard or saw anything suspicious before his body was discovered, especially when there is a stairway nearby and ranks were around.
Police said in a release on Tuesday night that after the incident, Bhoojnauth was placed to sit on the bench in the Enquiries Office while the woman whose name they gave as Anita Ramjohn, also of Belmont, was questioned. It was during this time, the release said, that the man got up and cuffed the woman in her face in the presence of ranks.
As a result, he was placed in the lock-ups at the said station pending the resumption of court. When the court resumed, the release said, the police went to the lock-ups with the intention of escorting him to court but found him hanging by his belt. Police said that he was discovered around 2:30 pm.
He was taken to the Georgetown Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
This latest incident comes on the heels of two others for the year. Several months ago, a man accused of hitting his mother was found hanging in the Diamond Police Station lock-ups. He was subsequently taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital and admitted.
Then in January this year, 19-year-old Ramesh Sawh was found hanging by his jersey in the Enmore lock-ups. Relatives have refused to accept that he committed suicide, saying that he showed no signs that he wanted to take his own life. Added to that they said he was in custody for a simple offence which could not have prompted such a drastic action. One rank has since been transferred. The matter was taken to the PSA and the Chairman Cecil Kennard recommended that an inquest be held into Sawh’s death. To date, neither the relatives nor the lawyer, Anil Nandlall has heard from the police or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
