A woman from ‘B’ Field, Sophia says that two police ranks repeatedly used Tasers on her inside her home after she questioned why she was being taken to the station.
Misha Pereira, speaking in a Facebook video alongside attorney-at-law and APNU parliamentarian Dexter Todd, said the November 1 incident involved a male and a female rank from the Turkeyen Police Station and left her with burns, marks and pain.
Todd called for Pereira to lodge a complaint with the Guyana Police Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), saying her account raised serious questions about the use of force and compliance with procedures.
According to Todd’s account of her complaint, police responding to a domestic dispute approached Pereira while she was in her bedroom and told her she had to accompany them to the station.
He said Pereira asked why she was being taken into custody, after which the officers used their devices without warning. Todd maintained that, according to her account, she had neither fought with the ranks nor resisted arrest.
“She has a right to ask why am I being arrested. She asked for her phone. They took her phone away. Now this is in her house, you know,” he said.
Pereira alleged that the officers stood on either side of her and used the devices simultaneously. She estimated that she was shocked between 20 and 30 times.
“Both of them at the same time. One on the left and one on the right,” she said.
She said she became weak and fell before being handcuffed.
“They tase me so bad I got burns, marks to show. My body is in pain,” Pereira said.
“I guess if they didn’t stop I would have been the next victim.”
Todd said photographs had been taken of marks on several parts of her body, including her neck, legs and buttocks.
According to him, Pereira was taken to the station and subsequently released after explaining what had occurred at her home.
Todd said the PNCR/APNU opposed the indiscriminate use of Tasers and would support Pereira in pursuing a complaint.
“We are going to have to encourage you to report this to the Office of Professional Responsibility and have them investigate this matter,” he said.
He added that her account warranted scrutiny of whether the officers had followed procedures governing use of the devices.
Todd also referred to the separate death of a man following his detention at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station.
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