Jamaica: Police officer under investigation for cutting young lady's dreadlocks while in custody
Police in Jamaica has ordered an internal investigation after a 19-year-old woman claimed an officer forcibly cut off her dreadlocks that she had grown since birth as part of her Rastafarian beliefs.
The alleged incident happened almost a year after Jamaica’s Supreme Court ruled that a school was within its rights to require a girl to cut her dreadlocks to attend classes. The school, however, later said the student could attend without changing her hair.
Shirley McIntosh, 49, said a police officer used scissors to cut the waist-length dreadlocks of her daughter, Nzinga King, after the younger woman was ordered jailed July 22 on charges stemming from an argument with police over enforcement of masking regulations to control the coronavirus.
“I’m so distraught. I’m so confused right now. This situation traumatized me a lot,” Nzinga King said.
Her mother said that King, who lives in Clarendon on Jamaica’s southern coast, was in a shared taxi on June 29 when police questioned passengers who were not wearing masks under Jamaica’s current pandemic-fighting measures. Police allegedly used pepper spray on one passenger, and King “came out, took off her mask, and an argument developed between her and the police officer,” her mother said.
King was charged with disorderly conduct and, on July 22, received a 10-day sentence or a fine equivalent to $40. The family claims that she could not pay the fine and was taken into police custody, where a female police officer allegedly cut off King’s hair in a bathroom.
“She said when she asked why they cut her locks, she was told they could pose a threat to her or other inmates,” said McIntosh, who said she did not immediately recognize her daughter when she paid the fine on July 26.
“I would like some justice for my daughter and the Rasta community on the whole and some form of compensation,” said McIntosh.
Isat Buchanan, the lawyer representing King, said he is considering filing charges against the police officer, calling the alleged act a “breach of human dignity rights and freedom of expression.”
Buchanan also represents the girl who was told she would have to cut her dreadlocks to attend school. He appealed that Supreme Court decision to the nation’s top appeals court — despite the school relenting to let her attend. A decision by the appeals court is pending.
Jamaica’s Rastafarian culture is known worldwide through reggae music and distinctive trappings such as dreadlocks, but followers on the island nation have often complained of discrimination by authorities.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force said in a statement that an investigation would take place.
“The claims of human rights abuses made by the young woman and her mother are viewed by the high command as very serious in nature and are, therefore, being treated as such,” the statement said.
The statement said that the “cutting off people’s hair — particularly that of Rastafarians — has NO place in the modern” police force.
Rastafarians are part of a political and religious movement founded in the 1930s in Jamaica that drew from Christian and African faiths. Dreadlocks are a symbol of strength, and Rastafarians take a vow not to cut them.
There is no census data on how many Rastafarians live in Jamaica, but its believed to be more than 1 percent of the population. One of the best-known representatives of Rastafarian culture was the late Jamaican musician Bob Marley. Rastafarians have often faced persecution and marginalization in Jamaica and keep alive the memory of a 1963 crackdown by authorities known locally as the Coral Gardens massacre that left about 150 people detained and tortured. In 2017, the prime minister, Andrew Holness, apologized and announced a trust fund of $64,000.
Elizabeth Swan
Senior Staff Reporter
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