HORRIFIC TORTURE

A University of the West Indies (UWI) student has been charged after the alleged “torture” of his student-girlfriend, who was discovered “captive” with “burn marks” inside his room on the Mona campus last week.

The university has also confirmed that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the man.

The incident comes amid what officials have acknowledged as an uptick in intimate partner violence cases on the St Andrew-based campus.

Senior Superintendent Marlon Nesbeth, head of the St Andrew Central Police Division, told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday that the man has been charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He added that the police are seeking advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether other charges can be brought against the student, who remains in custody after being charged on Friday.

“Tortured” with a clothing iron

Nesbeth said that the investigation so far suggests that the woman was held for at least three days and “tortured” with a clothing iron “and other stuff”.

The 19-year-old first-year student is reportedly home with family, following the ordeal, which culminated on February 9 on a senior block at the George Alleyne Hall.

She was found in a room assigned to her boyfriend, according to Norman Heywood, the director of security at UWI, Mona.

“[She] was held captive … in his dorm and the campus police were subsequently alerted and they went to the location and rescued the young lady,” Heywood told The Sunday Gleaner.

The case was handed over to the Half-Way Tree police in the St Andrew Central division for investigation.

A friend reportedly queried the woman’s whereabouts on Wednesday but was allegedly told by the male student that she was “sick”.

On Thursday, a university official reportedly sought to make contact with her to advise that a roommate was selected for her double room, but she could not be reached by phone.

Some time after 10 p.m. on Thursday, Heywood said that the security teams went to the dorm after receiving a report from a friend.

Heywood, who was not present when she was found, said she was not bound but that “he locked and had her there”.

“I understand she was very much afraid, shaken up, and there were some visible burn marks on her,” he said.

Hall mates have been left shocked as details emerged of what was transpiring amid them and without their suspicion as they believed the young woman was confined to the room because she was ill.

“No one knew anything,” one said, declining to be named.

Heywood, a former assistant commissioner of police in the JCF, said the male student had never been reported to the campus police before.

Though the data was not immediately available, he said there has been a “slight uptick” in domestic abuse/intimate partner violence cases on campus.

“It is something that the campus has taken seriously,” he asserted.

Broader challenges

Campus Registrar Dr Donovan Stanberry also noted that issues of intimate partner violence impacting the university reflect the broader challenges facing the Jamaican society. Most of the students attending The UWI, Mona, are Jamaicans.

“Whatever happens in the wider society, it’s not surprising that they are also manifested at the campus,” he said. “We are concerned because, like with the high schools and so on, since COVID-19, we have had increased incidents and we have to be very vigilant.”

Stanberry said disciplinary action is being pursued against the accused for misconduct as a student.

“We have provided the best care and counselling to the victim and the person who is alleged to have perpetrated the act will now be involved in disciplinary proceedings, in addition to what the police are doing. Obviously, I cannot say more about that because the accused person is entitled to a presumption of innocence and due process,” the campus registrar told The Sunday Gle aner.

In July 2022, a Caribbean Policy Research Institute report noted that approximately 28 per cent of Jamaican women experienced direct gender-based violence over a lifetime. It said that seven per cent of women reported experiencing abuse from an intimate partner in the prior 12 months at the time of the research.

Last July, Zavia Mayne, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, also reported a near 100 per cent increase in the number of Jamaicans who reported experiencing domestic abuse or violence over the last five years. The annual figure moved from just over 4,000 to around 8,000 over the period.

The UWI, Mona, has been troubled over the years with issues of domestic violence and sexual harassment involving students on campus.

In 2015, the university announced that it would pursue a series of reforms arising from the assault of two female students by a male student on one of its halls of residence.

Last May, a student was allegedly raped in a campus bathroom, prompting the announcement of tighter security arrangements. A student is facing charges arising from that incident.

editorial@gleanerjm.com