Heavily-armed soldiers and police, dressed in tactical uniforms, gather at the bottom of John John Road in Laventille, yesterday, as angry residents called for greater efficiency in the search of missing 10-year-old Tecia Henry. Photo: KEITH MATTHEWSThe desperate search for a missing ten-year-old girl turned to near violence in the Laventille community yesterday, when scores of irate residents clashed with heavily-armed police and soldiers. In their bid to locate Tecia Henry, a pupil of St Rose’s Girls’ Primary School, angry residents blocked the major roads with burning debris, demanding swift and more efficient action by law enforcement officials. Tecia went missing after leaving her mother’s home on Essex Street, John John, around 7.30 am on Saturday. The child was sent to K and G Mini-mart, at the lower end of John John, to purchase a phone card and other items. She never made it to the shop.
How exactly does clashing with police and soldiers and blocking roadways with burning debris increase the efficiency of law enforcement officials? Can someone explain this to me?
Sitting in front of the parlour, which was closed yesterday, the child’s mother Diane was visibly distraught. She tried to comfort her 12-year-old twin daughters, Tia and Tamara, who sat at their mother’s feet shedding tears for their missing sister. According to Diane, the walk from her home to the mini-mart is a mere three minutes. “When I saw a certain time I sent one of her sisters to check on her. The owner of the shop said he glimpsed her going up Crook Street,” Diane said.
Believing the mini-mart might have been closed, Diana said she thought her daughter might have gone to another shop on St Paul Street, not too far from where the child’s grandmother lived. “I called the aunt, but they said she not around. I call everybody and they say she not around.” Diane said her daughter never ran away from home. “It was school and home; nothing else.” Tecia Henry was last seen wearing a pink and grey jacket, a denim skirt, a shower cap and slippers.
Rapist on the prowl
Her disappearance has stirred fears that a rapist may be on the prowl in the Laventille district. One resident said last week a girl making her way home from St Phillip’s Primary School was snatched by a man who appeared to be in his 40s. The man dragged the screaming child at the back of the school and attempted to molest her. The child’s screams, however, alerted a teacher and other residents, causing the man to release the child.
Another resident on his way to work the morning Henry disappeared, said he, too, spotted a gunman lurking behind a house. According to the resident, as Henry was making her way to the shop she stopped to fix her slipper. The resident was adamant, however, that no “stranger” could have been responsible for Henry’s disappearance.
“Nobody would come in Laventille so, especially at Crook Street. Is somebody from right in here responsible.”
Well at least some residents are smart enough to realise that the criminals are from within their village so again I ask the question, how does blocking roadways help in finding the child? Are they protecting the alleged kidnapper?
Joint effort
Henry’s disappearance has united the Laventille community, as warring factions have joined in the search. Gangs from Beverly Hills, Picton, Canada and Africa combed the hills up to late yesterday looking for the child. Describing the police response as “sickening,” residents said they had no choice but to take matters in their own hands. “Is a poor, black child from a poor community. That is why the police doing nothing.
HUH? So are these "Lavantilleans" inferring that the police "doing nothing" only because it is a "poor, black child"? Don't they realise that is the normal response of any Government agency, whether police or clerical worker, when the PNM is in power? Then again, these "Lavantilleans" not to smart anyway, because they always vote PNM, even if it means more gang violence and even starvation.
She was part of group of other parents who gathered at the bottom of John John Road expressing their disgust by what they claimed was poor police response. “When we went to Besson Street Station to make the report, a Const Francis was abusing us, cursing us and trying to put us out the station and say he not taking the report,” the resident claimed.
Did Naail Ali get any better treatment when he went to a Police Station, wounded and bleeding, after escaping his kidnappers?Source: Trinidad Guardian
1 comment:
It's awful about Tecia. What I have to say though is that the people of this and similar communities must have things their way. When the Police were out in full force recently the people congregated and threw stones and openly challenged the Police claiming police brutality. Now though at their convenience they want the Police to come out urgently! Sorry, but my heart goes out to this Mother and the siblings of Tecia .... BUT PEOPLE OF LAVENTILLE STOP HIDING THE CRIMINALS, STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE, STOP PROTECTING THEM!
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