By Bibi Khatoon
An Essequibo Coast family is seeking justice after their relative died suddenly while in the lockups at the Suddie Police Station, from where a Police officer wanted a bribe to drop a charge he was facing.
Dead is thirty-nine-year-old Lallbachan Bachan; he leaves behind his wife and four children.
The post-mortem done on Monday morning shows that he suffocated after suffering from a fractured larynx (voice box). The Police have claimed that the fractured voice box could have been caused by a fall, but the post-mortem does not make that conclusion.
Mr Bachan was first arrested on June 17 for driving under the influence of alcohol and was released on $20,000 bail.
But he failed to show up to court and two arrest warrants were issued for him, Police claimed.
He was then arrested last Friday after he again failed to appear in court.
On Monday, he was found motionless inside the Suddie Police Station lockup.
The man’s wife, Samantha Bachan told the News Room that she last saw her husband alive on Sunday when she visited with her mother-in-law to take food for him.
“Everything was ok; he had no marks of violence or anything on his skin,” Mrs Bachan said. She added that her husband said he was “ok” and he also asked about his two younger children who are seven and nine years old.
The woman claimed that a Police officer approached her husband demanding $100,000 bribe to drop the case before he was arrested on Friday but the family could not afford to pay that amount. It was the same officer who arrested him on June 28th.
She said her husband worked as a taxi driver but is unable to do so every day as he also helps to take care of her children while she is at work.
After her husband was found dead in the lockup, Police visited her mother-in-law’s home and said to her: “Aunty don’t bother go; your son done dead.”
Mrs Bachan said she was appalled at the way the news was delivered to the family without an explanation.
She further noted that the body was removed from the Police station and taken to the Suddie Hospital mortuary without the family having any knowledge of what occurred.
“How come they could take the body to the parlour without even telling us anything?’’
The Police said the body bore no marks of violence and Bachan was the lone prisoner in the cell.
However, the News Room was reliably informed that the body arrived at the hospital with marks and blood on the face.
The family is calling for justice.
Relatives are preparing for the funeral service on Wednesday after which they are hoping to pursue a thorough investigation.
