Relatives of Clifford Singh, believed to have been beaten to death by his partner almost two months ago, say that police are dragging their feet on finding the suspect and are not treating tips given to them seriously.
Singh’s sister Jennifer Bovell told Stabroek News last week that although police were told that the woman alleged to have fatally beaten Singh is hiding out at relatives in South Ruimveldt, little is being done to capture her. A visibly-frustrated Bovell said that ranks visited the South Ruimveldt address once, hours after the killing, but have never gone back.
Police have issued a wanted bulletin for the woman, who they identified as Dacia Bourne. Bourne’s grandmother, who lived a few houses away from the Lot 28 Prince William Street Plaisance address where Singh was killed, has since vanished from the area along with the couple’s infant child.
Bovell stressed that until now she and other relatives of Singh have not received a positive response from the police. She said that several persons have reported seeing the woman as recent as two weeks ago, but they have not gone to the police with this information.
She opined that if police turn up at random times, they would find the woman at the South Ruimveldt address.
Bovell said that since the killing, she and other family members have gone to the police for updates but “they asking me if I ain’t hear nothing.” She said that she went to the Sparendaam Police Station at least three times, with the last time being about two weeks ago. “The ranks at Sparendaam ask me if I hear anything,” she said, while adding that she was surprised when she received this response since it is not her responsibility to apprehend the suspect.
“I would like the police to keep checking the address that we give to them and do a lil stake out,” Bovell said.
Asked about any additional information that might have sparked the confrontation between Singh and the suspect, Bovell said that she has since learnt that its origin might have been money. She said that a relative was with the couple up until about 10 pm, hours before the man was slain and the relative said that the two often quarreled over money.
Bovell noted that after her brother started a relationship with the suspect, he insisted that he could change her. She said that it was after the murder that they learnt that he had sold a piece of land belonging to their mother and used it to buy items for the woman to take into the interior, where she worked.
Bovell said that when the woman returned from the trip she came back empty handed and this apparently caused tension between the couple.
She called on members of the public to notify the police if Bourne is seen anywhere. Bovell said that she feels uncomfortable that the woman is still roaming freely. “She should have been brought to justice. We need justice and as long as she remains out there we would not get it,” she noted.
“I am confident that she will be caught and we will get that justice but it’s just that I need the police to keep checking. They can’t go one day and never go back. I want justice now,” she added, while pointing out that she was emphasising the need for police to act now because the case is still fresh and persons are readily available to testify.
Singh was discovered lying on the roadway in front of the home he shared with the woman during the wee hours of August 14.
A resident had recalled hearing screaming just before 2 am and when she peeped out she saw a girl on the road beating away on an object with a piece of wood. She said that the person fired about six blows at whatever she was hitting.
The resident stated that during the beating the woman’s cell phone rang and after answering it she ran straight up the road in the direction of the Plaisance line top.
She said that when she ventured into her yard to investigate, she noticed someone lying still on the road. Shortly after, she and other residents noticed that it was Singh who was lying motionless on the roadway.
According to a post-mortem examination, Singh died as a result of a stab wound and a fractured skull.
Residents in the area reported that the couple often quarreled and the altercations would sometimes get violent. The man’s relatives claimed that the woman was always the abusive one.
