– men allegedly refuse to assist lad despite cries by 7-year-old brother
The lifeless body of a 12-year-old boy was pulled from a trench in Black Bush Polder (BBP), Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Friday.
Hemraj Ramnauth of Johann South, BBP, left home on Friday morning in the company of a 25-year-old female neighbour and his 7-year-old brother to play Phagwah in the community.
Dead: Hemraj Ramnauth
Sometime after, the now dead child’s mother, Sadna Rambarran, received a telephone call informing her that her son was missing.
According to the aggrieved mother, several children were in the trench playing Phagwah along with adults. The adults, however, left the children and went about their business.
Rambarran said her 7-year-old son told her what transpired on the fateful day.
“He told me that he was not going into the water but would just watch how the people playing Phagwah…I was cooking and I get a phone call…a girl call and say I must come by the Three Bridge, that they can’t find Hemraj but the fire de side-light and I could not go out then but then another phone call come and they say that they find Hemraj and that he dead,” the mother added.
When she arrived at the scene, her son was lying on the ground and she tried to resuscitate him but her efforts were all in vain. The 7-year-old recalled his elder brother taking one breath after being pulled from the muddy water.
The canal where the children were seen playing Phagwah prior to the incident
Rambarran said her 7-year-old son reportedly tried to get assistance from adults who were on a nearby bridge but they refused to go to the drowning child’s aid. At that time, one resident who could not swim reportedly went into the shallow part of the trench and by using a stick, he was able to locate the child.
He called out for assistance and it was then two other men found the body and brought it to land. The child was taken to the Mibicuri Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Rambarran referred to the former JC Chandisingh Secondary student as a brilliant young man. He leaves to mourn his parents and siblings.
