A 10-year-old narrowly escaped unharmed while his teenage cousin and a friend were beaten by a group of men armed with cutlasses in a bird catching outing gone bad.
Alex Parks, 15, and Conroy Washington, 24, are currently nursing several injuries about their bodies after they were beaten by a group of about 15 men on Wednesday afternoon. The incident took place in Independence Street, La Grange, West Bank Demerara while the trio was catching birds in the area.
A seemingly calm Washington yesterday told Stabroek News that he along with Parks and a younger relative had gone to catch birds in Independence Street, a short distance from where they lived. “We went to catch birds and them bai end up seeing we and start run we and beat we,” Washington said.
Asked why the men would have picked on them, Washington said the men had accused them of breaking into an elderly woman’s home and murdering her. He said he knew nothing of the allegation.
Apart from the beating, which lasted for about half an hour, they were stripped of their clothing and forced to sit on an ants nest, he said, before adding that their ordeal only ended when another villager managed to convince the group of men that they had done enough to them. The three boys were then taken to the La Grange Police Station, where officers subsequently arranged for them to be transported to the hospital for treatment.
According to reports, this was not the first time a beating of this nature had occurred at the hands of the group, but this was the most vicious.
Marks of violence and stitched wounds were visible on Washington’s body, and particularly his back and arms. He said he was discharged from the West Demerara Regional Hospital on Thursday but he was still feeling “dizzy” after being treated.
Speaking on behalf of Parks, his mother Alexis Elliot related that he has been traumatised by the entire ordeal and he is still crying as he expresses fear that the men would come back for him if he returns home.
She said that although the doctor didn’t find anything seriously wrong with him as a result of the beating, they are expected to return in the coming weeks to have him undergo scans for a possible head injury, since he suffered several blows to his head that resulted in it being swollen. She also wants an examination to be done to determine if he received long-term damage to his left ear.
Elliot said her son told her the men “beat him. They threatened to chop off his head. They tied him up and dragged him from one point to another, took off his clothes and put him to sit on an ants nest.”
Elliot said she had stopped him from telling her anymore as it pained her heart to hear what was done to her child.
When asked about the assistance offered by the police in the matter, she explained that the police have one man in custody so far but are currently unable to locate to others. Elliot further stated the man has boasted that his family has money and therefore he won’t have to worry about anything. However, she went on to say that the man is expected to make an appearance at the Wales Magistrate’s Court on Monday. (Mariah Lall)
