There are many conflicting accounts concerning Belly Mujinga's investigation. I'm here to help those who want to know more but don't know which accounts to take seriously.
In the late morning of the 21st March 2020, in an almost empty Victoria Railway station, 47 year old Belly Mujinga and one of her colleagues was spat at by an angry passenger.
Running from the situation due to severe fear, Belly's underlying condition was at the forefront of her mind.
GTR Railways mentioned that Belly's respiratory condition is now acknowledged as 'high risk' ... This should have been recognised prior to her death when she pleaded with management and explained her vulnerability.
On the 5th April 2020, Belly Mujinga passed away from COVID-19 after weeks away from her family.
(Belly Mujinga leaves behind her husband Lusamba Katalay and an 11-year-old daughter)
The initial investigation and the CPS investigation
The British Transport Police interviewed a 57-year-old suspect but claimed that, "there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution based upon the allegation that the man spat deliberately on Mrs. Mujinga or said that he had the virus".
The outcome of the investigation also showed that the same man tested negative for COVID-19 and showed that he hadn't contracted it in the past...
This was from an antibody test that the man carried out in March that came out as negative.
The initial investigation that GTR railways carried out came to the conclusion that 'CCTV cameras show that a spitting incident did not take place'
This was just not good enough. After several protests, petitions and outrage, Belly Mujinga's investigation was urged to be reviewed by the 'Crowns Prosecution service' (CPS) where they gave this conclusion:
“In the absence of any medical or forensic evidence, together with inconclusive CCTV footage and inconsistent witness accounts, meant no criminal charges could be considered.”
So, due to how late the investigation was dealt with. With GTR Railways only alerting police of the incident 7 weeks after. This throws out the window the opportunity for any medical or forensic evidence to have really made an impact.
The office of National Statistics confirmed that Black people are 4 times more likely to die of coronavirus, Belly also had underlying conditions on top of this... If she had been out of crowds at an earlier stage of Covid-19. She might still be alive.
As said in a clip of BBC's Panorama's documentary on her death below, "there is always a risk that the evidence isn't as good as it might have been" because of how delayed things were.
As well as this, Belly Mujinga's female colleague tells Panorama that management was alerted of the incident straight after they were assaulted by the male and they urged for the police to be informed, however they never were.
And as the only claim of the man saying he had coronavirus came from Belly informing her management, it is very hard for colleagues and witnesses to correspond with something they did not even witness.
Then we come to the CCTV evidence. One thing I do not understand is how the British Transport Police were unable to prove the incident actually happened using the CCTV. This would mean that they would need to turn to witnesses/other colleagues' stories about the suspect and incident. But according to CPS, witnesses were inconsistent and conflicting. So something is not adding up as to how the identity of this 'suspect' was determined.
The quality of the CCTV was appalling, and due to this quality, no spit could be seen on camera, what can be seen is a larger white male pointing and peering over Belly and her colleague. This brings me to question if the police even tested the correct suspect.
Police said the man had been tested on 25th March "as part of his occupation" and the results were shared with them. Detectives concluded, therefore, that the incident had not led to Belly contracting Covid-19
However, just because the man did not have any antibodies of the coronavirus does not mean that an assault did not take place.
Also, GTR claims that at first, they had determined that it was a "coughing" incident and so this does not fall under assault. Which is very wrong. During a Pandemic, with Belly's medical history, this should have been taken much more seriously.
GTR claims that nothing was reported by Belly, If this was the case, then how did they manage to come to the conclusion that it was "just" a coughing incident?
& whether it was a cough, verbal slur, or a physical assault. GTR's MAIN priority should have been investigating this straight away. As any abuse of Transport For London staff is strictly forbidden.
So what we just can't seem to understand is where all this energy has gone when it was time to put rules into action?
The laziness and lack of urgency by Belly's employer plays a key role in her death and the events after.
(Belly leaves behind an 11 year old daughter)
Belly's Underlying Health Condition: Sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis is a disease involving abnormal collections of inflammatory cells that form lumps known as granulomas. The disease usually begins in the lungs, skin, or lymph nodes.
Belly was taking immunosuppressants for her sarcoidosis, which made her vulnerable.
The Transport Salaried Staff Association has mentioned that Belly had “begged to be allowed to work inside of the building” away from crowds, due to her underlying issues that were made aware to her employer. Even with this knowledge Belly was still made to work in these crowds with no personal PPE.
Why was her plea ignored?
I emailed my local MP about helping to push a public inquiry for Belly, this resulted in robotic feedback about how Transport for London has rules in place to ensure the protection of their employees. However, this again does not add up as Belly Mujinga was made to work in the frontline, with underlying health conditions, without any PPE or protection.
Telling their staff to 'wash their hands' is not enough to protect them from assault in these unresented times of a pandemic. It's simple, not enough and Belly's death has strongly shown this.
(screenshots below of the reply after I send a long and passionate letter to my local MP, and I know I am not the only one who received this copied and pasted response)
The lack of urgency for Belly shows the lack of value for her life by her employers, and I want the increased knowledge on Belly Mujinga's death to bring awareness in future policymaking for minorities in the workplace.
The office of National Statistics confirmed that Black people are 4 times more likely to die of coronavirus, and with Belly having underlying conditions on top of this if these statistics on black people were taken more seriously by her employer, she might have had safer working conditions during this pandemic.
If Belly had been out of crowds at an earlier stage of Covid-19. She might still be alive. Please do not take this lightly, as the lack of pressure applied to this case ( or rather the lack of journalism on this topic by the media) combined with the lack of urgency by her company, this all contributes to the current issues surrounding Black Lives Matter, as the lack of urgency surrounding this issue has made some young people cautious of working for companies where this may happen again.
We are still unsure of the nature of this man's attack.
The Basic admission of Guilt by GTR
GTR Railways mentioned that Belly's conditionhhave now acknowledged that Belly’s condition now meets the threshold for being high risk, and is now added to the list, then why did she need to die in order for this to be recognized? Surely this is an admission of guilt that there has to a connection between her condition, contacting covid 19, and the situation between the man and the colleagues.
Labour MPs like Bell Ribero-Addy have not stopped and are truly inspiring to young people who wish to play a part in helping opening this inquiry. Issamindset truly wishes the best for Belly's family.
Comments