THIRTY-NINE-year-old Ricky Ramdannie of Section ‘C’ Block ‘Y’ Golden Grove, East Bank of Demerara, a father of five daughters, aged 11 months, two years, five years, 13 and 15 years respectively, is complaining about abusive language, damage of property and threatening behaviour towards himself and his family by his neighbour, Paul Hendriques, and is alleging police harassment at the Diamond Police Station.

On the evening of March 8, the man said, Paul Hendriques was using abusive language at the top of his voice in threatening him thus: “Ricky, I gon blow up your f****** car and kill you! I gon chop you up if I see you on de road. You gon see bloodshed and your brains blow out, and I will light your house on fire!”

Ramdannie said his children, traumatised, started to cry and scream, and he made a call to the CID Headquarters and spoke to ASP Reid, telling him what had transpired, and the ASP promised him a police response.

However, after some time, six [6] plainclothes men in a police vehicle came to his house, identified themselves as CID ranks, and asked him what had happened. Ramdannie said he discussed the matter with them, and shortly after, they went over to the neighbour’s house to discuss the matter with him. After a short space of time, they left the area.

As soon as the police had left, the neighbour and his son allegedly came out on the road and started to stone Ramdannie’s house. Ramdannie said he was afraid for his life and the life of his family, because his children started to scream again, so he telephoned ASP Reid again and discussed what had occurred.

ASP Reid then sent the CID ranks back to Ramdannie’s house, where he told them about the stone throwing incident by his neighbour. They arrested the neighbour and took him to the Diamond Police Station. They requested that Ramdannie should accompany them to the station, but Ramdannie told them he was not going to the station, because the police at Diamond habitually harass and threaten him and his wife to lock them up and charge them. The visiting ranks assured him that they would take him and his wife and bring them home safely, thus he decided to accompany them.

However, when he and his wife arrived at the station, and he approached the corporal on duty to make a statement, the corporal said “Get out of this f****** station and carry y’all s****!” Mrs Ramdannie then asked the corporal how he could embarrass them like that, especially since they were there to make a report. “We are here for help and this is what we have to hear?” she asked, and the corporal replied “You f*** out! And I don’t want hear!”

This abuse happened in presence of the attacker and his family. Corporal Britton refused to take a statement from Ramdannie, and the man is alleging that the corporal was totally disrespectful because he has close ties with his abusive neighbour. He is also contending that that show of disrespect would encourage wrongdoing from his neighbour.

Ramdannie is currently before the court for two allegations that his neighbour Paul Hendriques made against him, but which he alleges are false. According to him, the police at the Diamond station are apparently not taking this matter seriously, because Paul Hendriques has a lot of contacts and also because he was once a serving member of the Guyana Police Force.

Ramdannie is seeking justice, and wants the police at Diamond station to stop harassing him. He is asking the relevant authorities to look into this matter.

(By Asif Hakim