Justice Supports Mrs. Anila Seewoogoolam
21.03.2013
JUSTICE, Association Against Violence by Officers of the State, expresses concern at the circumstances of the arrest and unnecessary detention of the widow, Mrs. Anila Seewoogoolam, and her subsequent suffering of violence and torture by CID police officers while she was held in communicado at the Quatre Bornes and Sodnac Police Stations. JUSTICE has, through her lawyers, Me. Sanjeev Teeluckdharry and Erickson Mooneeapillay, sent messages of support to her in the Apollo Clinic where she is being treated for injuries sustained while in detention. Her medical dossier disappeared mysteriously from Candos Hospital, once she lodged her complaint against the police, and she is now being treated privately. Her face, body and feet are covered in bruises, and she has difficulty walking.
At the end of the Raddhoa epoch, it had seemed that police violence and torture of detainees had begun to decrease. This case, however, is amongst those showing that this type of State violence is not that easily eradicated.
On 28 February, police officers came to Mrs. Seewoogoolam’s home in Pereybere to announce that one of her sons had supposedly had some accident, which turned out to be a mere ploy. Unsuspecting, she accompanied them to the Quatre Bornes Police Station, where they promptly arrested her. Since then she has been kept in police custody. This is outrageous because the potential charges are no more than larceny of some home furniture, as there is nothing more serious involved than a dipute as to the ownership of some furniture, a dispute with her ex-landlord in Quatre Bornes around the time of her preparations to “demenaze” for her new home in Pereybere.
JUSTICE calls for:
1. The immediate release of Mrs. Seewoogoolam on bail. We are also informed that her two sons, Pritham and Goolshan, are being held in custody separately following the same ordinary dispute over some sticks of furniture, but we do not yet have the details. [Her sons were released on bail later on the same day our statement was circulated]
2. The immediate suspension of the CID Quatre Bornes officers in charge of the enquiry, pending an independent investigation.
3. An immediate investigation into the disappearance of the medical records of Mrs. Seewoogoolam at Candos.
Rajni Lallah
Martine Desmarais
Lindsay Morvan
13 March, 2013
