TTPS must get serious on policing domestic abuse

This week’s killing of 34-year-old Tara ‘Geeta’ Ramsaroop and her 14-month-old baby Jada Mootilal was not the first case of a woman dying after seeking the protection of the State against an abusive partner.

But, given the prevalence of domestic abuse matters which have ended in the killings of women, this newspaper hopes it is the last time.

Ramsaroop’s relative told Guardian Media the victim made several reports against the suspect at her neighbourhood police station. They also say she had obtained a protection order from the police, which, in theory, is supposed to prohibit one person from engaging in abusive behaviour of any form against another person. The police have confirmed a protection order was served on the suspect.

As with many of these cases, there are claims from neighbours and relatives that the police did not treat the complaints of the ongoing abuse with the seriousness they deserved.

While the police have counter-argued that they followed the protocol, their failure to act decisively against these abuse claims comes out of a malign and insidious aspect of our national culture: the tendency of people to feel that they must not involve themselves in ‘man and woman’ business. This attitude, like all other negative cultural habits, will take time to reverse and will require much work from cradle to grave.

Getting police officers in stations across the country to respond positively to domestic violence allegations requires leadership from the police high command. Starting with Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood Christopher, decisive action must be taken to eliminate the lackadaisical and dismissive attitude of some police officers when dealing with domestic abuse reports.

It needs to be instilled in all police officers that a complainant walking into a police station to report a case of abuse is reporting a crime.

Firstly, the environment in the station must not be hostile. Also, the report must be documented in the same way that all other reports of crime are; appropriate notations must be made, receipts provided to victims and officers assigned to follow up initial reports.

The police must also vigorously enforce protection orders issued by the court. The fact that the police can admit a protection order was served on the suspect on Sunday, but the victim was killed on Tuesday, indicates a serious breakdown in the system.

An enquiry by the police into the Barrackpore station’s handling of the complaints as well as the enforcement of protection orders is required.

One other aspect of this matter requires action from the Government.

In May, High Court judge Robin Mohammed upheld a constitutional claim by the mother of a murdered domestic abuse victim, who successfully argued that several of her daughter’s fundamental human rights, enshrined in T&T’s Republican Constitution, were infringed by the acts and/or omissions of the State and its servants and agents. These were her daughter’s right to life and the rights of the victim’s mother and her child to respect for their family life.

This judgment has the potential to result in the State being held liable for a wide range of misdeeds by its servants and agents, which could result in ruinous damages being levied by the court. The ramifications of Justice Mohammed’s judgment must not be ignored. Government, therefore, must seek to get the TTPS to improve its policing of domestic abuse matters.

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