A few residents of West Coast Berbice on Saturday blocked the public road and set afire debris at Number Five Village, as they continue to call for justice for murdered teens Isaiah and Joel Henry.
The scene at No 5 Village, WCB, earlier on Saturday (Facebook user photo)
However, law enforcement officers quickly put out the fire and cleared the roadway.
In a statement, the Guyana Police Force said they received a reported at about 13:45h of the public road running through No 5 Village, WCB, being blocked.
“Following receipt ranks from the Division immediately responded and observed that the road was indeed blocked and the debris used to block same lit and burning. At this time, the ranks have managed to partially extinguish the fire and clear the roadway, allowing traffic to flow again,” the police said in a statement.
No one arrested has been made.
The butchered bodies of the Henry teens were found in clumps of bushes and partially covered in mud after relatives went in search of them on August 6.
Post-mortem examinations conducted revealed that the teenagers died from haemorrhage and shock. In the case of 16-year-old Isaiah, he sustained a severed spine between the second and third vertebrae and a number of chop wounds to his head.
The murders sparked widespread protest action, particularly along the West Coast Berbice corridor, with persons blocking the roads and burning debris while calling for justice.
The situation escalated as protesters blocked traffic along the WCB roadway while robbing, beating and extorting innocent commuters. Millions of dollars were also lost as vehicles went up in flames.
As the unrest continued, 17-year-old Haresh Singh of Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB), was found dead hours after he had left home on his motorcycle to attend his family’s farm in the backdam.
It was reported that the sound of Haresh’s motorcycle stopped along the dam and shortly after, his family members saw a fire blazing on the dam. Suspicious that it was the motorcycle, relatives went to investigate and discovered the motionless body of the teenager and the torched motorbike.
The teen was bleeding through his nose and had wounds to his head, ears, neck and hands. According to the family, there was also an “X” on his neck. They then rushed the 17-year-old to the New Amsterdam Hospital, but he succumbed on the way.
Initially, it was suspected that Singh’s murder was in retaliation for the deaths of Isaiah and Joel since one of his close relatives was among those arrested after the cousins’ murder.
Meanwhile, Police had established that 16-year-old Isaiah and 19-year-old Joel Henry were murdered in one location and then their bodies transported to the coconut estate on which they were discovered.
The Government had invited a five-member team of investigators from the Regional Security System (RSS) to visit Guyana to assist the Guyana Police Force.
The findings of the RSS investigation have not been released to the public.
