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Later examined by a government medical officer (GMO) at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), the physician’s findings are that although not life-threatening, the injuries the child sustained can cause disfigurement.
The child, Elizabeth Caesar, and her septuagenarian grandmother, Doreen La Fleur, of West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, visited this newspaper following the unfortunate incident to report the matter.
From all accounts, things came to a head when the Chinese woman spat in the young girl’s face as she lay helpless on the ground, and this was done in full view of the staff in the store.
The child, whose face was still swollen when she visited the Chronicle, related that the incident occurred shortly after noon on Friday, while her grandmother was at a city post office waiting to uplift her pension. The girl recalled that she went in search of a pair of ‘cheap’ tights and a bathing suit, and having heard that Chinese shops offer cheap ones for sale, had decided to check out the Chinese store next to the former Salt and Pepper Restaurant, opposite Demico House.
She said she was looking around the store when the store owner’s wife, a Chinese national, accosted her in a threatening manner, calling her a masked bandit, and claiming that she had come to steal her (the Chinese woman’s) two infant children.
The girl said she was so shocked at the woman’s ridiculous outburst and concomitant accusations that she just stood there, speechless for an instant and wanting to know if this woman was mad. The Chinese woman meanwhile began slapping and cuffing her, and even after she had fallen to the floor crying, the woman continued to kick her several times in her back.
The attack was joined by the woman’s husband, who held the child’s head and forcefully bounced it against a concrete wall.
The girl said that even though all this was happening in full view of the staff in the store, nobody ventured to help her, since they all appeared to be afraid of the Chinese couple. However, at this stage, two young women who were approaching the store, ran inside and tried to intervene. They raised an alarm and the attention of passersby was quickly attracted.
A man who claims to be related to the girl said he was outside Demico House when another man alerted him to what was happening, and he intervened on her behalf. Moments later, the police, who by then had been notified by citizens, turned up at the scene.
By then, the Chinese woman had run to the second flat of the building and disappeared. It took the police ranks several minutes of calling out to her before she came back into the store. After approximately thirty to forty-five minutes had passed, she appeared and gave the police her version of the story.
However, the police found nothing on the child to suggest that she had stolen anything. What they very likely found out was that the Chinese woman is now living in an environment with a culture that is clearly alien to her, hence she misinterpreted the symbol of the sacred khimar worn by the girl, and defined it as a mask or gangster garb with which to carry out sinister activities.
“You a thief, and got on mask to kill my babies!” she was reported as saying to the child.
Both sides were invited to the Brickdam Police Station, where the Chinese nationals were placed on a total of $10,000 bail, while the girl was neither charged nor arrested.
Relatives are reportedly satisfied with the very professional way the police investigating ranks had handled the matter. However, they are very disappointed that the police doctor at Brickdam, despite the clearly visible signs of battery (including swelling of the face and head), stated on his medical report that he had found no marks of violence on the victim.
It is against this background that the family has decided to take little Elizabeth to the Georgetown Public Hospital to have her examined.
Meanwhile, citizens outside Demico House and around the Route 40/48 bus parks were incensed over the attack on the child, and express disgust that the Chinese are now “taking too much on themselves,” and grossly erred in principle when they ignored that cardinal rule which says: “The accused is presumed to be innocent, until found guilty in the court of law.”
“Who are these Chinese people to think that they can come to Guyana and beat up our people, moreso helpless little children, and think that they can get off with it?” many are asking.
Shades of another era
As word quickly spread, other concerned citizens said the Friday scenario was reminiscent of the ‘Angel Gabriel Jill Bread Riot’ of 1889 in colonial Georgetown.
As the story goes, trade unionists recall that “On March 19, 1889, a 14-year-old African boy surnamed Nurse went to a Portuguese shop in Stabroek Market to purchase a small loaf of bread, which cost one cent. After he had paid for the bread, he took another larger loaf, valued two cents (or one jill or penny) and attempted to leave the shop. Vieira, the Portuguese shopkeeper, attempted to stop the boy; and in an argument that ensued, struck the boy with a stick.
“Vieira (the shop owner) was promptly arrested by the market constables, who took him to the nearby police station, where he was quickly released; but shortly after, he was re-arrested and held in custody.
The boy was also taken to the police station and then to the Colonial Hospital he where he was admitted.
“While all this was happening, a rumour circulated that a Portuguese man had killed an African boy, and that the police had been instructed to release the man.
“Within a short while, a full-scale riot broke out, and groups of Africans attacked Portuguese shops and people of Portuguese descent in the Stabroek Market. After the police had cleared the market, the rioters, comprising mainly women and youths from the poorer sections of Georgetown, ran through the city, stoning the houses owned by Portuguese and attacking people on the streets. Portuguese shops were broken into and looted, and Portuguese citizens were pulled from tram cars and beaten.
“The Sheriff of Georgetown, Henry Kirke, on command from Governor Gormanston, organised the police, and 100 special constables, armed only with batons, were ordered to protect the city from the mob. But they were unable to do so, since the mob attacked them with knives, sticks, bottles and stones, and many of the peacekeepers were injured…”
Vendor’s version
Meanwhile, according to a female vendor who sells just outside the store, the child was inside the premises shopping with her grandmother when the Chinese proprietress attacked her, claiming that she had stolen a pair of female jeans.
The vendor said the seemingly enraged Chinese woman, shouting in her native language, lunged at the child and let fly with karate-style chops and kicks as if the young girl was an adult opponent.
The woman said that as the child screamed in agony, the Chinese continued to rain blows on her, as other shoppers looked on in shock and disbelief.
Not satisfied with the licking she gave her, the Chinese woman and her spouse reportedly proceeded to strip the child in the full view of the public and carry out a search, but found nothing in her possession. There were several adult shoppers in the store at the time, but they merely looked around, or made purchases.
The Chinese version
A visit to the store early yesterday found that Alyssa Ren, the Chinese national at centre of the controversy, had a different story to tell.
She said she would normally spearhead operations in the store until midday, when her husband takes over. On the day in question, she said, she ventured to the third floor of the building after handing over duties to him, and proceeded to their living quarters.
On arriving there, she noticed several articles in her bedroom had been disarranged. The woman, who has two babies (one and two-and-a-half years old respectively) had gone up to breast feed the younger one.
She said that as she fed the younger child, she began to feel uneasy, and upon looking around, found the young girl hiding under the bed. “When I found the girl under my bed, I was shocked beyond belief. I was in fear for my babies, and very shocked that someone was in my bedroom with them. She had on a mask, and I thought she was there to harm my babies.”
Ren said that on pulling the girl from under the bed, she began crying and begged, “Auntie, please don’t take me to the station.” It was then, Ren said, that she took the girl to the store below and gave vent to her anger by flogging her.
She said a large crowd had gathered whilst this was happening, and that while word abroad is that her spouse had pushed the child’s head into the concrete wall, what he was actually trying to do was tear them apart.
Alleged vandalism
Ren said that on her return from the Brickdam Station, she discovered that the padlock to the rear door had been broken, and the door left ajar. She said that, on investigating, she discovered that several wrist watches were missing from her showcase, as was a quantity of clothing from the store.
Further checks, according to the woman, revealed that her cash canister had been wrenched from the counter where it was installed, and was now missing. She said she had left over $400,000 in the canister.
Her computer, which was on the same counter, was reportedly stolen, while two others were said to be removed from her living room on the third flat.
A staircase to the rear of the store connects the bottom flat of the SINO-MALL to the two floors above.
The businesswoman said that a security camera was also stolen, and a quantity of costume accessories amounting to over $1M had been removed from the store. The empty cash canister was found outside the store’s back door, as well as parts from the store’s security camera.
