A 65-year-old businessman from St Andrew, Robert Bell, has been charged in reference to a brutal street rage assault on a nurse that was captured on video and broadly circulated on-line. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, Might 13, has sparked nationwide outrage and renewed requires stronger motion in opposition to gender-based violence.
Based on police, the nurse—an worker on the College Hospital of the West Indies—was on her approach to work when her automobile was blocked by Bell’s. A confrontation adopted, throughout which she was bodily assaulted. A video of the encounter reveals a person beating and stomping the lady whereas allegedly holding a firearm. The incident occurred round 7:15 p.m. in St Andrew.
A report was made to the police, and Bell was arrested shortly after. His licensed firearm was seized. On Saturday, he was formally charged with:
- Assault occasioning bodily hurt
- Assault with intent to trigger grievous bodily hurt
- Assault at frequent legislation
- Possessing a firearm with intent to commit a primary schedule offence
- Possession of a firearm with intent to trigger accidents
His court docket date is at present being finalized.
Following the discharge of the video and the next public outcry, Minister of Tradition, Gender, Leisure and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, condemned the incident in robust phrases.
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“What we witnessed in that video was a bully, a coward, and a brute attacking a defenceless girl whereas holding what seems to be a gun,” she stated. “The savagery seen within the video goes in opposition to all the things that we stand for in Jamaica.”
Minister Grange emphasised that “there isn’t a excuse for abuse” and urged that Bell face the complete weight of the legislation. “There needs to be extreme penalties for violence in opposition to ladies,” she added, pledging assist to the sufferer.
The Advocates Community (AN) additionally issued a press release condemning the assault and calling for the case to be dealt with with transparency and impartiality, amid public considerations about socioeconomic privilege influencing the end result.
“Tuesday night time’s vicious assault of a nurse has left many Jamaicans reeling,” the AN stated. “We’re calling for this case to be dealt with transparently and for justice to be pretty and impartially delivered.”
The group additionally referenced a number of current high-profile assaults in opposition to ladies and ladies, together with the rape and homicide of 9-year-old Kelsey Ferrigan, the sexual assault of two schoolgirls in St Catherine, and the invention of the physique of 20-year-old UTECH scholar Anisa Dilworth, who went lacking after taking a neighborhood taxi.
“These incidents can’t go the best way of politician George Wright,” the AN warned, referencing a earlier scandal involving alleged home violence. “Solely swift and sustained motion to finish gender-based violence will begin to convey some semblance of security and safety again for Jamaican ladies and ladies.”
“No extra silence. No extra violence,” the group concluded.
