Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A police officer and his wife, who shot to fame over a confrontation over his infidelity, have threatened to sue the woman he had an affair with for allegedly leaking the video which went viral.
Attorney Roshi Balkaran, who is representing the couple and the man’s parents, who were captured in the video, made the threat in a pre-action protocol letter issued to the woman from Enterprise, Chaguanas, on Saturday.
While the correspondence, obtained by Guardian Media, revealed the names of the relatives and the woman, their identities were withheld by this newspaper due to parallel legal threats to the public over the continued dissemination of the video.
In the letter, Balkaran claimed that last Tuesday, the officer’s wife received a Facebook message from an “unknown user”, which advised her to enquire about his relationship with the woman.
Balkaran claimed that the officer’s wife contacted a telephone number that the user provided and had a conversation with the woman.
Balkaran said that the woman told her client that she had been in a relationship with her husband for almost three months.
“We are instructed that you were explicit in your account to her (name withheld) of your sexual encounters which you shared with him (name withheld) and you also informed her that you were pregnant as a result of the said relationship, a fact which you yourself had only come to know earlier that morning, just prior to contacting her,” Balkaran said.
Balkaran claimed that later that day, her client confronted her husband in his parent’s presence.
She admitted that her client filmed the entire incident including her husband’s nonchalant response and his eventual departure from the marital home.
Balkaran claimed that her client sent the video of the confrontation to the woman on the understanding that it would be kept private and confidential.
She alleged that in the days following the confrontation, the woman again contacted the officer’s wife asking her about his whereabouts and indicating that she planned to continue the relationship.
Balkaran also alleged that the woman claimed that she had lied about the pregnancy.
“As the initial hurt dissipated and the holes in your story seemed too blatant to ignore, she formed the belief that you were intent on destroying her marriage,” Balkaran said, as she noted that the couple mutually agreed to work on their marriage and engage in counselling.
Balkaran claimed that the officer’s wife told the woman of their plans to reconcile.
“We are instructed that this news appeared to be met with displeasure by you,” she said.
Balkaran claimed that her clients were shocked when the video of the confrontation was widely shared on social media, last Friday.
Stating that her clients had faced shame and ridicule, Balkaran claimed that the officer, who had an unblemished career, had his character tarnished and compromised.
“As a corollary, our clients’ private meeting and exchange in the said video has now been catapulted into the court of public scrutiny, causing them much mental and emotional anguish as they have become the brunt of various social media memes and reproductions, over which our clients have no control,” she said.
“This act by you can only be described as malicious, vindictive, and spiteful,” she added.
Balkaran requested an unqualified apology, immediate removal of the post and an undertaking that it would not be repeated.
She noted that her clients would pursue an injunction if their requests were not acceded to.
Balkaran did not give a deadline for a response.
The relatives are also being represented by Shiva Boodoo, of Boodoo, Balkaran and Associates.
