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I AM appealing to the Chronicle newspaper to publish my story, since I am the victim of grave injustice meted out to me by a cousin of mine who visited my home in my absence and stole my 20-pennyweight bangle and 20-pennyweight gold chain and $140,000. This incident happened since 2010 and I reported the matter to the police, but as you read on, you will probably understand why is it that to date, I cannot get justice in this matter. Mr. Editor, I have suffered so much at this woman’s hands and through the maneuverings of policemen, I took on this problem so much that I became sick and suffered a stroke. Now, my health is failing, the matter is before the court, and still, justice cannot be served.
On June 30, 2010, I left my home at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, and was on my way to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, East Bank Demerara, when I received a cell phone call from this woman – my cousin’s daughter, (full name provided, and who is also known as) ‘Rose’ or ‘Mrs Toto’, of Mandir Street, Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, indicating that she was on her way to visit me at Zeelugt.
I told the woman not to come to my home, since I was on my way to the hospital and she would not be able to see me. I also phoned my daughter, Sarah who was at home with two other persons visiting, and told her about the call I received from Rose. I was surprised to learn that the woman still showed up at my home in my absence and when she got there, met my daughter and two other persons – an old man and another trusted friend. When she arrived there, my daughter acted defiantly, and repeated my instructions that Rose (Mrs. Toto) should not enter the home.
However, she pleaded with Sarah that she only wanted to come in for some water to drink, and comb her hair. Sarah reluctantly allowed her inside, and after drinking the water, ‘To To’ proceeded to my vanity to comb her hair, then left.
After the woman had left, Sarah went to the vanity and discovered that my 20-penny weight bangle; a 20-pennyweight gold chain and $140,000 cash were missing. Sarah made a cell call to Rose, but the woman claimed that she was on a bus and could not hear anything Sarah was saying, and told her that on reaching home at Mahaica she would call back.
When I returned home from the hospital, my daughter related and the two friends in the home related to me, what transpired in my absence.
Mr. Editor, I was sure it was her (Mrs. Toto) because she did ask me a couple of days before, to borrow my jewellery and some money with some clothes, to attend a wedding, and I lent her only the clothes, because ‘Mrs. Toto’ is always borrowing stuff and never returning them, so I got fed up and decided not to lend her anymore.
I was annoyed and called and asked her why she had carried away my jewellery and money from the drawer. She started to cry and beg me not to tell any family member what she did to me. ‘Mrs Toto’ promised me that after the wedding she would bring back my things, so I felt sorry for her and said okay. But to my surprise, she always saying ‘today, tomorrow’ she will bring them back, but never stood to her word, and never brought my things back.
I reported this matter to a police station in Region 3 and a CID rank accompanied me to Mahaica to find Mrs. Toto. But on our way, the policeman stopped the car and told me something, (money talk) and I did not answer him.
We went back into the car and went straight to the Mahaica Police Station and collected a police rank. ‘Mrs. Toto’ was arrested and we all travelled back to the police station in Region 3. The police CID ranks said to me that he will lock up the woman for the next day’s court.
I went home, expecting that he would lock her up, but around 5:15 p.m. that afternoon he called me and said he will send her home, because she admitted to him that she had taken my things.
I replied to the CID, saying, no, I will come to the police station, but he refused to deal with the matter, saying it was so late and he will deal with it in the morning. I believed him.
To my surprise, the next morning, the CID informed me that the woman said that she will go to court and I must bring my daughter and the two other persons who were in my house when the items disappeared. We all went to the Leonora Police Station and the CID rank in question showed me a blue paper, marked $10,000 which he said was proof that she had paid that amount in bail and had gone home.
But things took a turn. The next day the CID called all of us back at the station and showed me that they had scrapped all the papers with the statement and wanted us to give new statements. He took the elderly man who was in my home on the day ‘To To’ visited, gave him directions as to what to say, and when the man told him that he cannot lie, the CID rank told him that he is 83 years old and must come out of the matter, so the man was struck out.
After that it was a royal run around and the police were always claiming the case jacket was not ready. I went to the head of CID and spoke with a woman and it was the same run around. For one week I was running there, begging for help, with no reply, just tears in my eyes and a broken heart. One day they told me that the woman was at the station, but they forgot to call me and she left.
I became suspicious and reported to the commander and so I had to give another statement to another CID man, and after weeks had passed and there was no word from the police, I contacted the rank and he was rude so that was the beginning of another phase of running around, and I was forced to go the Police Complaints Commission.
After a while, I fell sick and ‘Mrs. Toto’ came to see me and started to cry and said she didn’t want it to be so. At that stage she seemed upset and started to reveal to me a whole episode about what transpired between her and the police (involving a corrupt practice) and the plan they had set up to have the matter quashed. I even went to the DPP and stated my story and asked for help.
A few weeks later, the woman called me and said she wanted to give me back my things. I arranged with her for us to meet at one of my uncle’s houses and discuss it. My uncle taped the conversation and when she realised, Toto went away.
We took the tape to the police station and a CID said he was ordered to deal with the matter. ‘Mrs. Toto’ admitted to him that it was her voice on the tape. She was charged and the magistrate put her on $140,000 bail.
It took another seven months before I saw some progress. On November 2, 2011, I was summoned to court. When my statement appeared, it contained only part of what I had given the police. I told them I could not testify with this piece of statement, and after that it was trouble again for me. It seems I had no right to take that action.
Strange enough, neither my daughter nor the other woman and old man present in my home on the day ‘Mrs Toto’ went there, were served with any summons to appear and testify in court. The case went from Court 1 in Middle Street, back to Vreed-en-Hoop. I was summoned to appear in court again until February 14, 2013. From the DPP’s office I was sent to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
I got so fed up when I learnt that the case would have to be postponed to December 14, 2012, that I took all the witnesses with me without summons and the magistrate put the case down for January 24, 2013 which was a holiday.
So the clerk had to give me another date – February 14, 2013. After another episode of constant date changing, my uncle who taped the conversation said that he would like to be able to give his evidence early because he has to be out of the country by March 19. But this request was not entertained and it was put for Thursday March 21, 2013.
This now means that my ‘crown witness’ who is my uncle would not be in the country when the case is called up. The other lady who was a witness when ‘Toto’ entered my home said that it looks like the law over here is a joke, so she left for Barbados to go back to work.
It means that only myself and my daughter will be around for the case when it is called up on Thursday.
Whatever is happening? For the past two and a half years, I waited patiently, only shedding tears and getting sick.
I didn’t take revenge on my cousin. I am only asking for justice. I am emotional, not practical, and I do not want to get into violence. All I am asking, Mr. Editor, is to prevent blood-shed, because corruption leads to provocation and can escalate.
I can’t believe this is the behaviour of the police in Guyana. Once you can give money, the flow is good with the police. And if you can’t give them money, you better not go for help because it is a waste of time.
Mr. Editor, please, I am begging you to put this letter into your column. I do not deserve to suffer like this when someone wronged me and I was never the one to commit any wrong.
Why is there all the talk about celebrating International Women’s Month, when women are treated like this, and by the police who are paid to provide ‘Service and Protection’ to the nation”.
On June 30, 2010, I left my home at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, and was on my way to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, East Bank Demerara, when I received a cell phone call from this woman – my cousin’s daughter, (full name provided, and who is also known as) ‘Rose’ or ‘Mrs Toto’, of Mandir Street, Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, indicating that she was on her way to visit me at Zeelugt.
I told the woman not to come to my home, since I was on my way to the hospital and she would not be able to see me. I also phoned my daughter, Sarah who was at home with two other persons visiting, and told her about the call I received from Rose. I was surprised to learn that the woman still showed up at my home in my absence and when she got there, met my daughter and two other persons – an old man and another trusted friend. When she arrived there, my daughter acted defiantly, and repeated my instructions that Rose (Mrs. Toto) should not enter the home.
However, she pleaded with Sarah that she only wanted to come in for some water to drink, and comb her hair. Sarah reluctantly allowed her inside, and after drinking the water, ‘To To’ proceeded to my vanity to comb her hair, then left.
After the woman had left, Sarah went to the vanity and discovered that my 20-penny weight bangle; a 20-pennyweight gold chain and $140,000 cash were missing. Sarah made a cell call to Rose, but the woman claimed that she was on a bus and could not hear anything Sarah was saying, and told her that on reaching home at Mahaica she would call back.
When I returned home from the hospital, my daughter related and the two friends in the home related to me, what transpired in my absence.
Mr. Editor, I was sure it was her (Mrs. Toto) because she did ask me a couple of days before, to borrow my jewellery and some money with some clothes, to attend a wedding, and I lent her only the clothes, because ‘Mrs. Toto’ is always borrowing stuff and never returning them, so I got fed up and decided not to lend her anymore.
I was annoyed and called and asked her why she had carried away my jewellery and money from the drawer. She started to cry and beg me not to tell any family member what she did to me. ‘Mrs Toto’ promised me that after the wedding she would bring back my things, so I felt sorry for her and said okay. But to my surprise, she always saying ‘today, tomorrow’ she will bring them back, but never stood to her word, and never brought my things back.
I reported this matter to a police station in Region 3 and a CID rank accompanied me to Mahaica to find Mrs. Toto. But on our way, the policeman stopped the car and told me something, (money talk) and I did not answer him.
We went back into the car and went straight to the Mahaica Police Station and collected a police rank. ‘Mrs. Toto’ was arrested and we all travelled back to the police station in Region 3. The police CID ranks said to me that he will lock up the woman for the next day’s court.
I went home, expecting that he would lock her up, but around 5:15 p.m. that afternoon he called me and said he will send her home, because she admitted to him that she had taken my things.
I replied to the CID, saying, no, I will come to the police station, but he refused to deal with the matter, saying it was so late and he will deal with it in the morning. I believed him.
To my surprise, the next morning, the CID informed me that the woman said that she will go to court and I must bring my daughter and the two other persons who were in my house when the items disappeared. We all went to the Leonora Police Station and the CID rank in question showed me a blue paper, marked $10,000 which he said was proof that she had paid that amount in bail and had gone home.
But things took a turn. The next day the CID called all of us back at the station and showed me that they had scrapped all the papers with the statement and wanted us to give new statements. He took the elderly man who was in my home on the day ‘To To’ visited, gave him directions as to what to say, and when the man told him that he cannot lie, the CID rank told him that he is 83 years old and must come out of the matter, so the man was struck out.
After that it was a royal run around and the police were always claiming the case jacket was not ready. I went to the head of CID and spoke with a woman and it was the same run around. For one week I was running there, begging for help, with no reply, just tears in my eyes and a broken heart. One day they told me that the woman was at the station, but they forgot to call me and she left.
I became suspicious and reported to the commander and so I had to give another statement to another CID man, and after weeks had passed and there was no word from the police, I contacted the rank and he was rude so that was the beginning of another phase of running around, and I was forced to go the Police Complaints Commission.
After a while, I fell sick and ‘Mrs. Toto’ came to see me and started to cry and said she didn’t want it to be so. At that stage she seemed upset and started to reveal to me a whole episode about what transpired between her and the police (involving a corrupt practice) and the plan they had set up to have the matter quashed. I even went to the DPP and stated my story and asked for help.
A few weeks later, the woman called me and said she wanted to give me back my things. I arranged with her for us to meet at one of my uncle’s houses and discuss it. My uncle taped the conversation and when she realised, Toto went away.
We took the tape to the police station and a CID said he was ordered to deal with the matter. ‘Mrs. Toto’ admitted to him that it was her voice on the tape. She was charged and the magistrate put her on $140,000 bail.
It took another seven months before I saw some progress. On November 2, 2011, I was summoned to court. When my statement appeared, it contained only part of what I had given the police. I told them I could not testify with this piece of statement, and after that it was trouble again for me. It seems I had no right to take that action.
Strange enough, neither my daughter nor the other woman and old man present in my home on the day ‘Mrs Toto’ went there, were served with any summons to appear and testify in court. The case went from Court 1 in Middle Street, back to Vreed-en-Hoop. I was summoned to appear in court again until February 14, 2013. From the DPP’s office I was sent to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
I got so fed up when I learnt that the case would have to be postponed to December 14, 2012, that I took all the witnesses with me without summons and the magistrate put the case down for January 24, 2013 which was a holiday.
So the clerk had to give me another date – February 14, 2013. After another episode of constant date changing, my uncle who taped the conversation said that he would like to be able to give his evidence early because he has to be out of the country by March 19. But this request was not entertained and it was put for Thursday March 21, 2013.
This now means that my ‘crown witness’ who is my uncle would not be in the country when the case is called up. The other lady who was a witness when ‘Toto’ entered my home said that it looks like the law over here is a joke, so she left for Barbados to go back to work.
It means that only myself and my daughter will be around for the case when it is called up on Thursday.
Whatever is happening? For the past two and a half years, I waited patiently, only shedding tears and getting sick.
I didn’t take revenge on my cousin. I am only asking for justice. I am emotional, not practical, and I do not want to get into violence. All I am asking, Mr. Editor, is to prevent blood-shed, because corruption leads to provocation and can escalate.
I can’t believe this is the behaviour of the police in Guyana. Once you can give money, the flow is good with the police. And if you can’t give them money, you better not go for help because it is a waste of time.
Mr. Editor, please, I am begging you to put this letter into your column. I do not deserve to suffer like this when someone wronged me and I was never the one to commit any wrong.
Why is there all the talk about celebrating International Women’s Month, when women are treated like this, and by the police who are paid to provide ‘Service and Protection’ to the nation”.
