The body of 51-year-old Rawle Fredericks of Ithaca Village, West Bank Berbice was discovered on Monday morning floating in a canal in the neighbouring settlement of Blairmont, West Bank Berbice.
Rawle Fredericks
The body bore suspected marks of violence when it was discovered at about 09:30h in a canfield canal which runs adjacent to the Blairmont Public Road.
Fredericks was last seen alive on Saturday. According to his cousin, Jonell Robertson who is visiting from the USA, the dead man was the son of the late West Indies prolific opening batsman Roy Fredericks. However, he was mentally challenged.
Robertson explained that Fredericks had wanted to go to a party about three miles from his home on Saturday. She said she was leaving for the weekend, but prepared his party clothing and instructed her grandmother to ensure he had his hair cut.
When she returned on Sunday evening, she did not see her cousin, and enquiries elicited no response. She said he was not there for breakfast on Monday, and when she enquired, she was told that he might still be sleeping.
Fredericks had lived alone in a nearby house, but visited his aunt’s home for meals and other essentials.
Robertson said she and Fredericks’ grandmother went to Rosignol, and on their way back, as they were crossing a bridge, the driver of the car pointed to what appeared to be a body floating in the canal, but after a brief moment, he said it was not a body, and they continued on their journey home.
Robertson said that shortly after she got home, someone called and questioned about the clothing the now dead man was wearing. After providing the information, it was then confirmed that the missing man was dead.
Robertson said the body appeared to have marks of violence.
“He had bruises on his face (and) he was bleeding through his nose. His body was fine, but his face and his hands had bruises. It looked to me like something hit him, and they just throw him in the canal, because his forehead was swollen and his hands. I can’t tell about the back, because he was lying on the stretcher,” she explained.
She described her cousin as being loved by the community, although being mentally challenged.
“Everybody know he has mental issues. He comes to get his breakfast, takes his lunch and gets his shower; and he is always walking going to Rosignol. If anybody have a party, he is always there. He don’t trouble nobody…He cannot write, but he know people; if he sees something he would come and tell. You have to listen carefully to understand what he is saying. If he tells you that someone did something to him, then someone did do something to him,” the woman explained.
The Police are investigating, and are awaiting the results of an autopsy. (Andrew Carmichael)
