Amid mounting public condemnation for abuse of power and human-rights breaches and a multiagency investigation, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has denied a reggae singer’s allegations that the police trimmed his Rastafarian children and fed them meat.

But the brouhaha appears to have been the result of a simmering family spat that boiled over at the Gordon Town Police Station more than a week ago. The JCF said that its officers were not responsible for trimming the stepsons of reggae artiste JahDore, given name Sean McDonald, nor did they cause the acts to happen.

The force’s communications arm said that the boys were taken to the police station in the company of relatives and were taken to the barber and for lunch by an aunt, who had reportedly accompanied the mother. The initial report about concerns for the children’s welfare appears to have triggered the police’s action. Melesha Welsh, a woman claiming to be the aunt of the two boys, commented on The Gleaner’s Instagram post, contradicting McDonald’s claim.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]