-Crime Chief
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud yesterday said that the persons who made reports of abuse allegedly suffered by deceased cancer patient Sandra Alli are yet to provide police with statements.
The report, according to Persaud, was made through the Ministry of Human Services by Alli’s friend, Sharon Harding, to the Alberttown Police Station. Harding, he said, had alleged that Alli was assaulted by family members.
Persaud has also confirmed that a post-mortem examination conducted on the woman’s body revealed that she died from cancer.
Harding, who supported Alli during the last days of her life and was instrumental in having the woman’s death investigated, had said that she was told by Government Pathologist Nehaul Singh following the autopsy that he found marks of violence to the back, blunt trauma to the head and that she was underfed.
Following Alli’s death on September 13, at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), several reports of abuse were made to the Ministry of Human Services and the post-mortem was subsequently ordered.
After the post-mortem on Monday, Alli’s body was handed over to her mother, Stella Jacobs, who has been accused of beating her daughter and has since strongly denied allegations of abuse.
The woman’s last rites were conducted yesterday.
Harding told Stabroek News yesterday that all statements were put in order yesterday and by today police should have all the information she and other witnesses are capable of providing.
Two probation officers first visited the Jacobs’ home on September 8.
This was after Harding would have reported the alleged instances of abuse to the ministry.
When the social workers arrived at the home, Harding recalled, they first spoke with Stella Jacobs and then proceeded to the room where Alli was being kept.
At that point, Stella was reluctant to leave the probation officers with her daughter.
Later, in a statement to the police, a probation officer wrote that they had received repeated reports about Alli being abused in her home. During a subsequent interview, the officer further wrote, Alli recounted to them instances of abuse she had suffered at the hands of mother and brothers, Carl and Arjune.
It is still not clear whether police will be able to institute charges against Alli’s relatives based on the findings of the post-mortem.
“I will not let it rest,” Harding vowed yesterday. “I have gotten it this far and I will see that Sandra gets justice.”
