The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Royal Bahamas Police Force has launched an investigation after a young mother accused officers at East Street South Police Station of refusing to take her complaint that she was beaten by her son’s father and his aunt.

Lewratta Farisien, 23, alleges that instead of taking her complaint, officers warned that her boyfriend, himself a police officer, could be arrested and that she could lose custody of her two-year-old son. She said she later filed her complaint at Carmichael Road Police Station.

Her son’s father and his aunt were arrested on October 15 and charged with causing harm. Police confirmed that both were granted police bail.

Ms Farisien said the trouble did not end there. She alleged that once the pair were charged, officers she believed were from East Street South began visiting her home, her salon and her boyfriend’s residence looking for her, and kept calling her phone. When she answered one call, she said, an East Street South officer asked her to come to the station.

“I immediately hung up because they were trying to pressure me and force me to drop the charges because the East Street South Police Station did not do their job right,” she said.

She claimed her son’s father’s family has connections at the station.

East Street South Police Station declined to comment when contacted by The Tribune. In a statement, the RBPF said it was aware of a social media post she made and that the matter was of concern. It said every person has the right to report an incident to police and have the complaint properly assessed. The force said it had launched an investigation to establish the facts and determine whether any policies or procedures were breached, and that it would follow departmental procedures if any breaches were found.

“The Royal Bahamas Police Force wishes to assure members of the public that it remains committed to providing fair, impartial, and professional service to all individuals, without prejudice,” the statement said.

If Ms Farisien’s account is accurate, the officers’ handling of her complaint would run counter to the Protection Against Violence Act, 2023, which was passed to change how police and others treat victims of violence.

Under the Act, every victim of violence must be treated with compassion and dignity by anyone who deals with them in a professional capacity. The law covers violence between people who are parents of a child together.

The Act says that when a victim lodges a complaint, the officer “shall prepare a written statement” of the details, and both must sign it, with the victim given a copy. The complaint must then be investigated. The officer must help the victim obtain medical treatment where necessary, advise her on preserving evidence and give her contact details for the Protection Against Violence Commission. The officer must also notify the commission in writing.

The Act also requires sensitivity training for police on handling complaints, and allows the commission to engage lawyers to liaise with police where a victim feels an officer has not fully cooperated. The commission was appointed in February, nearly three years after the law was passed.

Ms Farisien, a hairstylist, said she feared for her life during the October 1 confrontation. Had her boyfriend not been there, she said, “I felt like I would have been beaten to death”.

She said she suffered a black eye, bite marks around her mouth, bruises to her head, scars on her body and an injured toe.

Her Facebook account of the incident had been shared more than 4,000 times and drawn more than 3,400 reactions at press time. Some commenters described their own bad experiences at the East Street South Police Station.

Ms Farisien said she had ended her five-year relationship with her son’s father. She said she had told him that if he wanted access to their son, he should go to court.

On October 1, she said, she could not collect her son from school on time and asked her best friend to pick him up. The friend told her the child’s father had already collected him. Relatives at the paternal grandmother’s home confirmed the boy was there and told her she could collect him.

For her safety, Ms Farisien said, she set her phone to record and put it in her pocket before going to the house.

The blurry video captures her saying good afternoon as she approaches the front door while her son’s father repeatedly tells her she is not welcome in the yard.

“I come to pick up my son,” she says.

“This my child too. You ain’t welcome in this yard,” the father replies.

Ms Farisien said her son called out to her from the living room, where he was watching television. When she tried to take him, she alleged, his father pulled the child back and pushed her. The video shows the father blocking the boy from reaching his mother, then a struggle over the child as he cries in the background.

“They playing tug-of-war with my son, and nobody was trying to let go,” Ms Farisien told The Tribune yesterday, breaking down in tears.

She said she eventually let go so her son would not be hurt.

In the video, a woman can be seen joining in and pushing Ms Farisien, who is punched, bitten and kicked. Her boyfriend also gets involved and can be seen being confronted by two men.

A man is heard telling the couple not to return.

The couple called police and were told to wait, but Ms Farisien alleged that relatives continued to antagonise them and dented her vehicle. They set off for the nearest station but met a police vehicle on the way, which followed them back to the scene until a patrol unit arrived. Officers then took them to East Street South.

There, Ms Farisien said, officers told the father that she had full custody and that he would have to go to court if he wanted to see the child. She told officers she wanted to press charges against the father and his aunt.

She alleged that officers discouraged her. She also claimed another officer told her boyfriend he would be “dealt” with if he pressed charges.

At Carmichael Road Police Station, Ms Farisien said, a female senior officer saw her injuries and immediately gave her a hospital form. She returned with the medical form, photographs of her injuries and the video.

She later reported the East Street South officers’ conduct to the RBPF’s Complaints and Corruption Branch.

Ms Farisien said she saw officers at her home on her security cameras on Friday while she was away. She moved temporarily to a relative’s home and cancelled appointments at her salon. When she returned to work on Saturday morning, she said, she could not stay.

“I just felt unsafe. I felt paranoid because they kept ringing my phone off,” she said.

She questioned why officers who had failed to help her when she was injured now wanted her at the station.

“Y’all coerced me and intimidated me and told me that my boyfriend would get arrested and in trouble and that I would lose custody of my child,” she said.