Jimmy Estephane.
A 21-year-old man from Derniere Riviere, Belmont is lucky to be alive today after he was abducted, beaten and kicked off a precipice in Pavee, Castries on Monday night (May 5).
In an exclusive interview with St. Lucia News Online (SNO), Jimmy Estephane gave details of his horrific experience which occurred around 7 p.m.
Estephane said he was walking near the cathedral and was “talking to someone on his phone.” While “texting,” he said two men held him and pushed him in a car. He was blind-folded.
He said it happened so fast, he did not see their faces, except that “one had corn rows (hairstyle) and one had a white top”.
Nothing much – if anything at all – was said by them during the brief drive which ended at Pavee.
That’s when the worst part of the nightmare unfolded.
Estephane told SNO that the men began to beat him in his face, while trying to remove his shirt, pants and shoes.
“While they beating me, one of them keep saying ‘shoot him, shoot him’. They were beating me all over my face, my eyes, mouth,” he said.
He recalled he was removed from the vehicle.
“One of them kicked me down the hill,” Estephane said.
Jimmy works in the Castries market, helping vendors carry goods.
Luckily, he only sustained bruises from the fall. He said he ran to the Fire Department in Castries where he was treated. He then made a report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) nearby. Relatives later took him to St. Jude Hospital.
The perpetrators took his phone, about $105 cash, a sponsorship sheet, and his bag.
Estephane, who works as a handy man in the Castries market and “part time at the St. Lucia Marketing Board,” said that he has no clue why someone would want to hurt him.
“I don’t look for trouble with people,” he said.
Police are investigating the incident.