Human Services officer cleared of allegation that she slapped pensioner

Last Updated on Monday, 1 March 2021, 16:41 by Denis Chabrol

The official of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, who was accused of slapping a female pensioner, has been cleared of the allegation and she is back at work, Minister of Human Services Dr. Vindhya Persaud said.

Dr. Persaud told News-Talk Radio Guyana 103.1 FM/ Demerara Waves Online News that the Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered that the female officer to return to work as there was no reason for her to remain off the job.

In light of “no corroboration” of the accusation, the Minister said the PSC decided that the officer could not remain on administrative leave. She had been sent on leave pending an internal investigation.

“(The) pensioner denied anything happened…signed statement so we had to reason to not have her at work,” the minister said.

The minister said Dr. Melissa Ifill, who made the allegation on Facebook, the accused officer, and the pensioner  as well as security personnel have all given statements.  Dr. Persaud said, in particular, the pensioner stated that she was never slapped by the Human Services Ministry officer when she had gone to uplift her 2021 pension book.

The Human Services Minister has already apologised to the pensioner for the incident that reportedly occurred during the first week of February.