Parika Backdam accident: Mother says hospitalised father unaware daughter died

Ramona Rackbar, mother of 8-year-old Supriya Khan who was killed, and wife of 32-year-old Imran Khan who was injured in the tragic Friday Parika Backdam accident, revealed to Education Minister Sonia Parag who visited on Sunday, that the father remains hospitalised and unaware that his baby girl has died. “The doctors told us not to tell him, because of the condition he is in. He thinks that she is home and she is okay,” a tearful Rackbar related to the Minister.

Ramona, at her Naamryck Koker, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home with her 5-year-old- son, is struggling to cope with her new reality. The distraught young mother now sees a life without her daughter and one where their son would have to grow up without his big sister. Supriya Khan, a Grade Three pupil from the Parika Back Primary School, who was described as a bright, bubbly and well-loved child, died following an accident on the Parika main road, East Bank Essequibo. Her father, 32-year-old Khan, had just picked her up from school on his electric motorcycle and was on the way home when his e-bike was hit by an overtaking motor car driven by a drunken driver. Police say the accident occurred at about 15:05h when a motor pick-up, GAB 8162, attempted to pass the e-bike but collided with it instead, resulting in both Imran and Supriya falling onto the road surface and receiving injuries to their bodies. The driver of the vehicle reportedly took the injured father and daughter to the De Kinderen Regional Hospital, where the eight-year-old girl was pronounced dead on arrival, while her father remains hospitalised with a fractured skull. According to the police, tests show that the driver, 22-year-old Arif Alli of Parika, EBE, was highly intoxicated at the time of the accident. He remains in police custody. Minister Parag expressed her sincerest condolences to the family, assuring them that the entire Government, more so the Education Ministry, has them all in prayers.