Family of murdered prisoner want justice

The relatives of 30-year-old Shaheed Alli of Barr Street Albouystown, Georgetown, who was beaten to death by prisoners at the Lusignan Prison, are calling for justice.

Alli was one of the men accused of murdering an Albouystown businesswoman, Sumintra Dinool in 2014.

On April 2nd, Alli was charged and remanded to the Lusignan Prison on the East Coast of Demerara, but, within a few hours of his arrival, Alli was attacked and severely beaten while sleeping in Bay 1 of the facility.

He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital and died on April 5th, hours after undergoing surgery for a fractured skull.

His sister, Saviska Alli said the family was unaware that he was beaten or taken to the hospital and was only informed when her father visited the prison on April 3rd.

But by then, the hospital had already discharged Alli and sent him back to the prison.

“Now my brother go in the lock up good good…Wednesday when my father went to see my brother…my father start to row and fret…because he see he son, the state that he see he son in,” Saviska told News Room.

She said her brother’s visible wounds were many and he could have barely spoken when his father questioned him about what transpired.

According to the sister, Alli’s condition worsened after he was discharged from the hospital and so he was rushed back to the GPHC where he subsequently died.

She claimed the prison authority never informed the family of the beating or hospitalisation.

“They carry he to the hospital. I don’t know what medication they gave to him without doing a proper examination [to] check his head injury and send he back.

“They wait till me brother take in more…then they decide to bring him down to the hospital back.”

Saviska said she believes it was the co-accused who attacked her brother after the man accused Alli of being a snitch.

She said the Magistrate ordered that the men be placed in separate cells but this never happened.

The woman said her brother was not a violent person and she does not believe he is a murderer.

She is calling on the authorities to provide answers as to what transpired at the prison.

“We want justice want…too many people [dying] in jail and nobody ain’t know how. My brother get [stabbed] on Tuesday night…they ain’t know how, they ain’t hear the squealing nothing.

“You ain’t hear a man squealing? You ain’t hear a man hollering in jail…they don’t focus? What they were doing at them hour? They ain’t supposed to sleep.”