Prisoner found hanging

Apr 16, 2015 News

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The relatives of a 36 year old man, who police say was found hanging in his cell at the Lethem Police Station lock-ups last Sunday, are not the least bit convinced that he committed suicide.

Close relatives of Ephraim Bovell called Roy, are adamant that there is more to his death than the police are revealing at this time, and they are calling for a professional investigation devoid of the “usual police cover-up.”
They are basing their conclusions on the visible injuries on Bovell’s face, coupled with the fact that his character did not suggest that he was suicidal.
“My nephew is tougher than that…he will not kill himself because he was locked up for 60 grams of marijuana…he is mentally stronger than that,” his aunt Roxanne Pedro told this newspaper yesterday.
Police in a statement last Sunday had said that Bovell of Tabatinga, Lethem, was the only prisoner in the lock-ups on Sunday, having been arrested at about 19:45 hours on Saturday after he was found in possession of 60 grams of cannabis sativa (marijuana).
According to the police, ranks had earlier visited the lock-ups at 06:15 hours and Bovell, who was described as a hustler, was alive and well.
When they returned about two hours later, they discovered what appeared to be a shoe lace tightly wrapped around his neck and attached to the grillwork.
But according to relatives, evidence on the body and from reports reaching them from

Lethem paints a different picture of how Bovell, who originally hails from La Grange on the West Bank of Demerara, met his death.
There was what appeared to be a single stab wound to the right side of his neck and another wound on his forehead, which are consistent with a beating.
There are also reports that Bovell had contacted a close relative via telephone and told them about the beating he was receiving at the hands of the police.
Bovell had left his home sometime last year to go to work in the Rupununi gold fields. He was scheduled to return home next month.
In an interview with this newspaper shortly after the post mortem examination, the dead man’s aunt who was accompanied by his father Wolford Henry recalled receiving a message on Sunday afternoon from her niece that Bovell had been arrested by the police and he later died in custody.
She immediately contacted Bovell’s stepmother, who informed her that she too had received the shocking news.
In fact, Bovell’s stepmother claimed that she had spoken to him on Saturday morning and he told her that he was in police custody and was being beaten to accept ownership of a quantity of marijuana that the cops had found in a camp he was sharing with other persons.
“He told her that the police trying to set him up to own the weed. He said that they were beating him and they would be bringing him to town on Monday (last). He told his stepmother to get a lawyer. He also said that the police were beating him so badly that he did not think he would make it to town. He didn’t even finish talking when they took away the phone from him,” Pedro told this newspaper.
After receiving the message, Bovell’s father went to the La Grange Police Station which is nearest to his home to be advised on how to get further information.
He was advised to go to the ‘F’ Division (Interior) Headquarters at Eve Leary, but when he turned up no one was there since it was Sunday afternoon.
At the time the relatives were still not sure if what they had heard was the truth, since no one had officially informed them about Bovell’s death.
They were only able to confirm his death when they read it in the Kaieteur News on Monday last.
“When I see the papers with the police explanation, I said ‘wow!’” Pedro recalled.
The relatives subsequently went back to Eve Leary and met with officials from the division.
“They did not tell us that he (Bovell) died. I guess they assumed that we had already read it in the papers. All they did was give us a form to fill out so that they could do the post mortem,” Pedro stated.
The post mortem was done yesterday by government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, who gave the cause of death as asphyxiation due to hanging.
According to Pedro though, who claimed to have witnessed the post mortem, Bovell had a small puncture to his neck and an abrasion to his forehead.
She said that during the post mortem, no blood was emitted from Bovell’s body, something they found very strange.
“I pushed my way and observed the post mortem and I observed a dent in the forehead and a stab wound to his neck. There was also a cut on his right knee. There was no bleeding and I believe that all the bleeding took place in the cell,” Pedro stated.
She said that the police have invited her to give a statement about what she observed during the post mortem but she declined.
A source in Lethem had told this newspaper that a man, who was called to clean the cell Bovell was in, had seen blood stains there.
The man was also reportedly seen with bloodstains on his clothing after he had completed cleaning the cell.
The relatives said that what is also worrying is the fact, that the police claimed that Bovell was arrested around 19:45 hours on Saturday.
They claimed that Bovell had contacted his stepmother almost six hours before and told her that he was in police custody.
The police had said that a team of investigators from the police Office of Professional Responsibility was sent to Lethem to probe the matter.
The investigators will have to look into how Bovell got possession of a shoe lace, which is among several items prohibited in police lock-ups.
“When you are being placed into the lock-ups, they are supposed to search you and ensure that they strip you of your belt and shoe laces or anything that you can use to harm yourself or any other person in there,” a source who is attached to the OPR had told this newspaper.
“We want justice and a fair investigation. I believe that my son bled his life away in the lock-ups,” said Wolford Henry.
“Roy was a stable man and he had a network of family that he could have called upon at any time. He would not kill himself. The question is, is it suicide or homicide? I believe it is homicide,” the dead man’s aunt Roxanne Pedro declared.

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