CrimeWatch host Ian Alleyne and his fans were stunned this week after viewing a video showing a homeless man being beaten and stabbed several times by another man on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, was filmed with cellphones by several bystanders and was posted on the social media site Facebook. The video quickly went viral and evoked outrage among those who viewed it. The response was similar when Alleyne showed the footage on his programme.
The footage showed a man dressed in a suit, whose head was bleeding, attacking and stabbing a man who appeared to be homeless. The homeless man was seen being held down by two other bystanders while his attacker first beat him, broke a bottle over his head, then used the broken bottle to deal the homeless man several stabs.
After airing the video Alleyne identified the attacker as Anderson Wilson. He contacted Wilson and explained to him the severity of the situation and told him he had until 12 o'clock the next day to come to the studio. The following day Anderson arrived on the CrimeWatch set to clear the air. He claimed that the incident developed after the homeless man hit him over the head with a piece of wood, causing him to bleed. He told Alleyne he lost it when he saw the blood and started to defend himself.
Anderson told Alleyne the police later took a report on the incident and they had his address if they intended to take the matter further. He added that he was not running from anyone. Alleyne questioned why no police arrived on the scene although the attack lasted for close to ten minutes. He also called on police to investigate the matter properly since the homeless man, who may be mentally unstable, was clearly not a threat for the majority of the attack.
In another story, Alleyne visited the Biche community where Walter Elahi was shot to death in his front yard. Family members told Alleyne that a resident was walking along the road while returning home from a carnival event when he observed Elahi lying on the ground in front his home. After calling out to Elahi and getting no response, the resident called the police and emergency services. Elahi was lying in a pool of his blood and appeared to have been shot once in the chest.
Family members told Alleyne that Elahi had a couple of drug-related matters before the court. It is alleged that Elahi was killed because of a drug deal gone bad. Alleyne is asking anyone with information on the person responsible for Elahi’s killing to contact him at 294-4081. The CrimeWatch host also visited the home of the 13-year-old Barataria North Secondary School student who was the victim of bullying recently.
In another video which went viral on Facebook, the boy was seen being beaten by a female classmate while several other students looked on and even egged the attacker on. The video was captured by another pupil on February 10, between the hours of 1 and 2 pm in a classroom. The boy’s mother, Lana Maharaj-Boodoo, 41, told Alleyne she was outraged over the incident since her son had been the target of a student who had been bullying him for several months.
She said her son often came home complaining that his money had been stolen and books ripped up by his attacker. She even said her son was afraid to go to school and had been having sleepless nights because of the latest incident. Alleyne called on Education Minister Tim Gopeesingh to make a statement and investigate the situation.
However, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called on Gopeesingh to take action on school bullying after seeing the video. The minister addressed the matter during this week’s Cabinet meeting and subsequently announced a series of new initiatives at the post-Cabinet media briefing.
Breakthrough
Tiffany Khan’s mother appeared on CrimeWatch this week to complain that her daughter had abandoned her grandson after dropping him off with her last Sunday. The frustrated woman told Alleyne she is a dialysis patient who was unable to take care of her grandchild and she also had no place of her own. Alleyne called on Tiffany to step up and take responsibility for her son, noting she could also be charged for child abandonment.
Tiffany subsequently appeared on CrimeWatch after seeing her mother and son. She told Alleyne she came to get her son back. Alleyne also called on the father of the two-year-old boy, Andrew Albert, to take care of his child.