Voice Online 

Rupinder Kaur Pandher, a Surrey mother and businesswoman, who was brutally punched by a Surrey RCMP male officer in her own home and THREATENED WITH A TASER and a strip search last January is still waiting for an RCMP inquiry.

Pandher told The VOICE this week, when I contacted her in view of the October 13 Taser death of an innocent Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport at the brutal hands of the RCMP: "Since March I have been getting the same letter again and again from the RCMP stating that they were going to investigate her complaint within 30 days. It's the same letter; only the date keeps changing."

Is this the kind of justice that the Indo-Canadian community can expect from the Surrey RCMP?
 

The following is Pandher's statement to Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP and the media about the despicable conduct of the Mounties (capitalization is the complainant's and I have made some minor corrections in punctuations for clarity):

This morning at around 3:17 a.m., we heard bangs on our door and this person was crying for help. My husband opened the door and this person was crying for help. He was like "please let me in, someone's trying to kill me, they have guns and they were chasing me." My husband let him in and we gave him some water. He was so scared and nervous and was crying.

Then my husband asked him to call 911 and he did, and he told us that he called 911 from his cellphone few minutes ago. While he was talking to 911 operator, he told police that he is in our home and he gave his phone to my husband, and my husband gave our address to the police, so that police can come. After 8-10 minutes I called 911, they asked me to stay on the phone and I did, and they told me that their police officers are in the motel in front of our house. Me, my husband and that guy, we were standing in our living room and looking from our living room window, there was no police car at the motel.

At around 3:40 a.m., three police officers showed up. My husband opened the door. The guy who was being helped by us was in the living room. One of the police officer(s) put his flashlight on his face and went in the living room. He had his shoes on, I asked him if he can take his shoes off. He yelled at me, and said, "STAY QUIET OR YOU WILL END UP IN JAIL," and then after few seconds he smiled at me and said, "HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF STRIP SEARCH?" I couldn't believe this and stayed quiet.

Then this police officer took that guy outside, while other two police officers went upstairs to our bedrooms. They checked all our bedrooms, checked and emptied two of our bedroom closets. My 11-year-old son asked them that what are they doing, and one of the Chinese police officers told him to shut up.

They searched all of our bedrooms, and then when they came back downstairs. I was standing in front of our entrance door and was asking them for their card or badge number and they said they don't have their cards with them and they cannot give me their badge numbers, and I was like 'I have to have something in order to talk to your supervisor' and then the Chinese police officer pulled my shirt from one hand and from the other hand, he hold my neck and pushed me on the ground at our entrance hallway. The other police officer put his feet on my legs and I yelled at them that "I am not a criminal, what are you guys doing?"

And then this Chinese police officer punched me in the face (left side) and the other police officer who was holding my legs by his feet pulled his taser gun out and the Chinese police officer told him that "THAT'S ENOUGH FOR HER."

My 11 year old son and my six year old daughter was watching all this from upstairs. My husband was yelling at them, and they went outside. I got up and grabbed a piece of paper and pen to get number plates of police cars. I ran outside and while I was writing their police cars' licence plate number and their codes on their cars, the first police officer again told me that "HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF STRIP SEARCH?" I ignored him and wrote down all the licence plate numbers as soon as I could and ran inside my home.

I was shivering and quivering so badly and couldn't believe that had happened to me. My husband cuddled me and gave me glass of water.

After few minutes I called Surrey RCMP non-emergency number, I was talking to the operator and was explaining her everything. I asked her if I can talk to the supervisor, she said the supervisor is on his way to your home and will be there soon. I said 'OK' and hung up the phone.

After few minutes, I called back again at Surrey RCMP non-emergency number and had talked to the same lady, again she was telling me to calm down and said that the supervisor is on his way. I asked her if she can put him on the phone, and she said he's on his way to your home and I cannot put him on the phone. I asked her if I can talk to your District Chief and she said 'no,' and said that you talk to my supervisor and explain him everything and I did talk to him. As I was explaining him about this incident, he told me to talk to (Corporal) JOE EDWARDS at (phone number).

I called (Corporal) JOE EDWARDS right after I talked to the supervisor at 4 a.m. this morning explained him about the incident and I was asking him what's going on with the RCMP, he didn't listen to me properly and said to me that "he didn't know what the circumstances were, "POLICE SAFETY COMES FIRST" and then I asked him how about other people's safety, my safety, my family's safety. He said 'listen to me, let us do our job.' I told him that these police officers assaulted me physically and was about to use taser on me, I will talk to your District Chief and media. He said "I don't give damn to media." I told him that at least you got to answer someone and he was "I'm gonna talk to no one" and hung up.

I called him back again and said my lawyer and media will talk to you soon and he said "DO WHATEVER YOU CAN, I DON'T CARE." I told him that my lawyer will make you answer at least and again he hung up. I tried him back again and he did not answer his phone.

I am the victim of police assault. Since all this happened my 11-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter and my 4-year-old daughter keep on asking me, that why police pushed me down, punched me and they are so scared I don't know what to tell them, because I don't have words to explain that this is how the RCMP works.