Fear blamed for low turnout at Jasmine Deen protest

According to a resident of the Bull Bay community where Jasmine Deen resides, fear has kept many persons from showing up at the scheduled protest for her return.

Deen, a 22-year-old visually impaired student, went missing earlier this year.

It is alleged that persons in the Bull Bay, St Thomas community where Deen lived have expressed fear due to the fact that the two men who were charged in relation to her disappearance are also from the community.

Forty-year-old Tamar Henry, otherwise called ‘Braff’ and ‘Lavish’; and 36-year-old Gregor Wright, otherwise called ‘G’, remain in police custody after being charged with possession of identity information, unauthorised access to computer data and simple larceny.

“Persons are fearful, I believe, and also what was related to me was that the fact that the individuals that have been apprehended, one of them is from the area, so right away off the bat it tells us that Jasmine Deen is in the company of someone that knows her,” said Fatima Muwwakkil, one of Deen’s neighbours.

Deen disappeared in February, after reportedly boarding a taxi at the Irvine Hall gate of The University of the West Indies some time before 10 p.m. She was wearing a white blouse and blue jeans, and sleuths retraced her movements and have even spoken to the taxi driver and other potential witnesses.

During the small protest earlier, Deen’s immediate family members and a handful of neighbours begged anyone with information about her disappearance to report it to the police.

"This is not a general search and rescue where you don’t have any clue. The individual was caught with Jasmine Deen's card, the individual was caught with Jasmine Deen's phone, how is it that they get those possessions? We the community members are saying we need a speedier apprehension of the culprits who took Jasmine Deen,” Muwwakkil said. 

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