Pregnant woman kicked by soldier still seeking justice

While her six-month-old son Amir is the source of her joy, first-time mother Tacoma Davis is very much aware that her current reality could have been entirely different had an encounter with a soldier last May escalated.

Davis, 22, was kicked in her stomach by the army man while pregnant. The altercation, which occurred in her home community of Denham Town, Kingston, was captured in an amateur recording. In it, the former Tivoli Gardens High School student was seen aggressively stepping towards the soldier during what appeared to be a heated verbal exchange. The soldier kicked Davis before using his government-issued rifle to push her away when she attempted to advance a second time. A few days later, Davis told this newspaper that her injuries were both physical and psychological, and that she was unable to find money to do an ultrasound.

"Up to now nobody don't apologise to me fi wah happen," Davis said on Thursday. She alleged that some soldiers have jeered her since the incident, forcing her mother to speak to their supervisor. Davis also disclosed that the unfortunate encounter has also smeared her perception of the security forces.

"If me see dem pon one side a di road, mi tek di next side, and if me know say dem deh a particular spot, mi walk a different way. Mi did say mi no want him [her son] to become a soldier but people say yuh cyah stop him career like that. But mi see like all now mi no want when him start walk him go near dem," she said.

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that the incident is still being investigated by the Independent Commission of Investigations. On Thursday, the agency's deputy commissioner Hamish Campbell told a press conference that the investigation was nearing completion despite several challenges.

"We are just waiting for the medical report in respect of that. But the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] are also submitting to us their report of their internal investigation in relation to the accusations made against the officers. They have been interviewed," he said.

"Again, which is often the case with social media is populated with bits of camera, no one comes forward and say 'I took that piece of film, that's mine. This is my evidence'," he added.

Davis said that she will not rest until she gets justice, and, hopefully, an apology.

"Mi did a look fah fi see if them would come check and see if me baby alright but dem no do nothing like that. Him born wid bloodshot in one of his eyes, it come one and two times because wah day it come inna him right eye. Mi did inna serious pain after it happened, all when mi did have mi baby. A night time when mi did pregnant mi bawl non-stop because mi cyah sleep. So mi nah go mek it rest just so," she said.