Photo: Daniel Cal, deceased
by Charles Gladden
BELMOPAN, Mon. Sept. 16, 2024
The family of 26-year-old Daniel Cal of Belmopan is claiming that he was beaten by police while he was detained at the Belmopan Police Station and later died on Thursday, September 12, after being found unconscious in his holding cell.
Cal was reportedly held in police custody from September 6, after being found in possession of a stolen motorcycle. While detained, he allegedly began to experience health issues (reportedly seizures) and was taken to Western Regional Hospital for treatment and then back into custody.
On Wednesday, September 12, Cal began to experience another episode and was thus taken back to the hospital, but by the following morning, he had passed away. His family is claiming police brutality, as they had made attempts to see him, but they were declined visitation; and when they finally saw him after his death, there were bruises all over his body and stitches in his head. They also say that he was in a semi-nude state, and was only wearing undergarments.
Home Affairs Minister, Hon. Kareem Musa explained to the media on Friday, September 13, that Cal was initially to appear in court on Monday, but couldn’t do so due to his condition. Then he was held in custody on Tuesday due to the holiday, and he began experiencing another seizure on Wednesday, which led to his death the following morning.
“It was a case of not in-custody death, but shortly after being in custody,” he said. “We have asked the NFSS to expedite the postmortem, [and] I have been assured that that will be done on Monday. I have also reached out to the Ministry of Health personnel to contact the doctors at the hospital who treated Mr. Cal when he was taken there on Monday, and then taken there again on Wednesday, for them to indicate whether Mr. Cal, during his time there at the hospital, had indicated anything to the doctors, because I believe that there’s some insinuation that police might have hit him,” Minister Musa added.
“… From the accounts that the police have provided so far, it seems that the knock on his head was a result of the seizure he suffered. We’ve already checked the cameras at the station, and there’s nothing to suggest that there was any instance of violence between police and the individual that was detained. It’s very early in the investigation, but we are putting serious priority on it,” Musa further said.
When local reporters pressed Musa about the bruises along with the state that Cal was found in, he said that the postmortem will determine the cause of death.
Cal left behind a 5-year-old son.