Woman being beaten in voice note refuses to press charges

The young woman who is heard in a four minute 43 second voice recording pleading for her life, while being beaten by a male companion has refused to provide the police with any information on the assault.

As a result, the perpetrator of the act of violence that set social media abuzz from about Tuesday of this week, has escaped without being charged.

Speaking Thursday to SEARCHLIGHT at his office, Commissioner of Police (COP), Colin John, said the young woman, known from the recording as “Anecia”, has told the police that she will not be pressing charges.

The decision by the young lady, said to be a university student, has caused persons to berate the police for not charging the assailant, but Commissioner John said the hands of investigators are tied.

“The person has to make a report and they have to agree to go to court to give evidence. This particular incident, the police from Calliaqua intercepted the alleged offender. They realized the incident occurred in the Colonaire District, so they took the person to Colonaire Police station,” John explained.

He said the woman went to the Colonaire Police Station on Monday, was issued with medical injury forms and advised to go to the Georgetown Health Centre.

“She then went to the Georgetown Police Station and said she wasn’t going to give any statement or evidence. Police officers there spoke to her in excess of 45 minutes to persuade her to give evidence, but she still was determined not to give evidence or not to give a statement, so as a result of that we couldn’t proceed,” the Commissioner told SEARCHLIGHT.

He added that because there is no virtual complaint or nobody willing to go to court to say what happened there is no case. “…because the police wasn’t there and could not have said what happened and the most we could have relied on is the voice note that we heard.

“That in and of itself could not have secured a conviction because first of all, we have to have someone saying they were assaulted and an assault can be lawful or unlawful,” the COP said.

He further said that they needed the medical evidence to support the assault or actual bodily harm and that was not given by the alleged victim either, therefore the police could not proceed.

The voice recording started making the rounds on social media on Tuesday. In it, the apparent male driver of the vehicle is heard warning his female passenger to stop trying to jump from the vehicle. He tells her even if she falls from the vehicle by accident he could be charged by the police.

The woman replies that she was only trying to get out the vehicle because he had repeatedly struck her in the head , to which he replies that she had tried to jump from the vehicle before he had struck her.

A sound is heard in the recording and the driver asks if the passenger is trying to jump out the moving vehicle once more.

“Oh, so you going jump out again?” the male voice asks angrily. The woman begs to be left alone after which,h sounds as of someone being repeatedly struck, are heard, while the explicit-laden male voice screams for the woman to close the door. There is no let up even when the woman informed him that he was being recorded.

“You wah play harden, you feel you harden more than everybody,” he screams while daring her to open the door which she does, an action that is rewarded with more blows.

“Luke stop, Luke please ah begging (expletive) you, Luke please,” the woman pleads,after which she was told that she should not pretend, and she had been warned before.

“You think I is them youth man…ah fed up talk to yo. You think I is them (expletive) youth man dey,” asked the assaulter while the victim says she is sorry, to which the attacker replies, “yo never sorry, yo does lie”.

The man then tells the woman that he is going to kill her as she has already set the base, “so one ah we ah dead, and one ah we gwine ah jail,” he says while seeming to disregard the woman’s claim that she was bleeding.

The man mentions something about his son while the woman asks to talk and apologizes again.

“So, what you going do, you gong kill me” she asks. “Luke just let me go, just let me go,” she pleads before the recording ends.