An argument over a girl resulted in the chopping to death of a boy at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, last Sunday evening.
Dead is Devanand Sanichar, 13, of Lot 83-84 Plantain Walk West Half, Beterverwagting, ECD.
Based on initial investigations, Sanichar, who would have celebrated his 14th birthday in a month’s time, was at a wedding house in the area when he got into a fight with a group of men over a young lady. He subsequently left and returned with a cutlass.
The argument escalated and one of the men relieved him of the cutlass and dealh him a chop to his head. Sanichar reportedly fell and was severely beaten with pieces of wood by the group.
When Guyana Times visited the home of the dead boy Monday, his inconsolable mother Sukhdhai Sanichar was being comforted by relatives. She managed to tell this newspaper that the prime suspect was a friend of her deceased son.
“He come and call for meh son on Sunday…he did drunk …so I tell he that meh son wasn’t at home. We went at the wedding house and the same boy come to meh son and tell he to reach he outside,” the woman stated.
However, her son left the wedding house and after a short time, she recalled her brother-in-law waving to her from the gate and she thought something was amidst.
As she reached the gate, she was told that her son was lying on the roadway in a pool of blood.
In tears, she related that she ran to the area and saw her son lying and attempted to hold him but was told that he was dead and she could not touch the body. “He had a chop on he head and like a nail mark to he neck… blood went all ova,” she recalled.
However, the family later received information that another friend of the dead boy was among the group that beat and killed him. That friend has since been taken into custody and has led the Police to the others who were involved in the incident.
At present, four teenagers are in custody, but the alleged prime suspect referred to as “James”, is still on the run. The aggrieved mother is calling for justice for her eldest son, who assisted the family financially.
Sanichar dropped out of school six months ago and sometimes worked with his father. She described her son as a quiet person and was not sure what transpired on the fateful night.
One woman told Guyana Times that she was at home when she heard the screams and as she looked out, she saw the young man’s body on the roadway.
At the scene, there were several pieces of wood, which might have been used to beat the teenager.
The Police have confirmed that persons are in custody assisting with investigations.
The dead boy leaves to mourn his parents and three siblings. (Bhisham Mohamed)