The relatives of a 47-year-old cattle farmer who was struck down by a car and later died at the hospital are calling for justice to be done.
They said that since the accident the family has not been contacted by the police or anyone else and they fear that nothing will become of the matter.
Zaman Shaw of Good Hope, Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara was hit by the car on February 18 at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara after he had gone in the area to look for some missing cows. The car was reportedly being driven by an employee of the state television station, NCN.
Shaw’s father, Kalam Shaw told Stabroek News that his son had gone to look for the animals in Leonora and had found them and was returning home when the incident occurred. He said that from eyewitness reports, his son was flung into the air and the bicycle that he was riding was pitched to the other side of the road. He said the car came to a stop some distance away and transported his son to the West Demerara Regional Hospital from where he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He was admitted but died days later on February 28 at the said institution. He was buried last Sunday.
The elder Shaw on Tuesday related that since the incident occurred no one from the media house had contacted the family to say anything. He said that two days after the incident another son had gone to the media house, but a senior company official reportedly told him that he didn’t want to speak to him or his family and questioned him about what he expected the company to do. He said while his son was in the hospital, a lawyer reportedly sent by the company went to visit him once but never returned.
Shaw lamented that it seemed as if the driver of the car was going to go free. He said the man had been held by the police, but he was released on station bail and when his son died no one from the police force contacted him. On the day his son was buried, though, officers from the police force visited and asked him the location of the burial ground, he said.
The man declared that incidents which have since occurred have left him with no confidence in the police.
“I do not have any confidence in the police force,” he declared, adding though, “I am not prepared to leave it like this.” He said he was going to explore other options. He said initial investigations carried out by the police left much to be desired stating that when they went to take measurements at the spot where the incident occurred they ignored eyewitnesses, who said that the driver was giving them the wrong information.
The elderly Shaw, who will be 71 years old this month-end, said that his son was the breadwinner for him and his wife. “I suffered a great loss, he was a very good son. This thing grieved me.”
He said what made his son’s death ironic was that he was never sick and was always healthy. He declared that there should be a thorough investigation into the matter. “The man kill my son and is walking on the road,” he lamented.