DOCTORS at a private city hospital were on Saturday conducting emergency surgery on Colwyn Harding after his intestines fell out and were found to be discoloured. 

Harding is the Laing Avenue man who was allegedly raped with a police baton by a constable while in police custody at the Timehri Station a year ago.
According to information reaching the Guyana Chronicle, Harding complained of feeling unwell on Saturday and with his intestines protruding, his relatives rushed him to the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital where he was immediately taken into surgery which lasted for well over five hours.
Speaking with this newspaper on Tuesday morning the young man’s mother, Sharon, said that when the intestines came down they observed that they appeared discoloured. Up to yesterday Harding was still hospitalised and he was said to be in an unconscious state.
Meanwhile, the trial of two police ranks in the Harding abuse case is slated to commence on November 28. His current hospitalisation came as a shock to relatives since they were of the view that he was on a very slow road to recovery although he was scheduled to have other operations following the reported baton assault into his rectum.
The treatment of Harding was condemned by many persons including the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, retired Justice Cecil Kennard. A report by Justice Kennard found that the police had erred in their investigation, treatment and reporting of the matter.
The treatment of Harding saw his lawyers and relatives moving to the High Court to secure his release from prison where he had been remanded.
The Government of Guyana was also sued by Harding through his attorney and that matter is currently engaging the attention of the courts even as several other ranks were disciplined departmentally for the alleged abuse of Harding, then 23 years, at the Timehri Police Station in November last year.