Charges of misbehaviour in public office, assault and malicious damage are to be laid against two south Special Reserve Police (SRP) officers for the alleged abuse of a wheelchair-bound man last week. Officers of the Professional Standards Bureau received instructions yesterday from the Director of Public Prosecutions to lay charges against two suspended officers, arising out of the December 27 incident involving paraplegic Robby Ramcharitar.
They will both appear before a San Fernando Magistrate on Monday to answer the charges. The male officer will be charged with misbehaviour in public office, while the woman officer will be charged with assaulting Ramcharitar and maliciously damaging a car which was parked on High Street. The car was damaged when Ramcharitar’s wheelchair collided with it after he allegedly was pushed away by the woman police officer.
The alleged incident shot into the national spotlight last week and created a social media firestorm after a video of the officers allegedly assaulting Ramcharitar, 46, on High Street, San Fernando, surfaced on Facebook. The video showed Ramcharitar being violently slapped and pushed away. Both police officers were expected to attend identification parades and be interviewed by officers at the Professional Standards Bureau’s San Fernando office at 10 am yesterday.
The woman police officer turned up for the interview, which lasted for two hours. She later attended the identification parade. The male officer, citing advice from his attorneys, declined to attend the identification parade and interview session at the San Fernando Police Station. However, around 4 pm yesterday, officers from the Professional Standards Bureau detained the 32-year-old man at a house in Princes Town and took him to the San Fernando Police Station.
Ramcharitar was interviewed by Cpl Joefield. Up to late yesterday, Joefield was interviewing the male officer.
Ramcharitar to sue state
Wheelchair-bound paraplegic Robby Ramcharitar says he will be initiating legal action against the State, even though charges are to be laid against the two officers accused of abusing him last week. Ramcharitar’s attorney Rekha Ramjit, instructed by attorney Alvin Pariag Singh, confirmed she had received instructions to initiate proceedings on Ramcharitar’s behalf.
She said by Monday she would issue a pre-action protocol letter to the Attorney General’s office and the two officers signalling her intention to take legal action on Ramcharitar’s behalf. “We are exercising his right to take action against the Government because the police officers are servants of the Government and he has the right to sue them. The pre-action protocol letter is the first aspect of that (course of action),” Ramjit said.
She said if the officers were charged that criminal matter would have no impact on the civil proceedings being initiated by Ramcharitar. “They are two separate matters. The State can charge the officers, but the civil action for the assault and battery and humiliation that he was subjected to is a separate (legal) action,” she said. Ramjit said Ramcharitar remained a patient at the San Fernando General Hospital.
She gave the assurance that the wheelchair-bound man was not seeking protective custody. “The San Fernando General Hospital is not the safest of places, but we have no reason to believe that the officers are going to do anything further or untoward. We would not be going down that road at this point in time (to seek protective custody),” Ramjit added.